Mumbai Crime: Tiff over toll money led to cabbie’s murder; two arrested

Virar police on Wednesday arrested brothers Yusuf Chaus and Mustakin Chaus for the murder of Ola cab driver Santosh Jha A police source said they had refused to pay the toll while travelling to Karnataka Later when they couldnrsquot pay for the CNG refilling Santosh realised they didnrsquot have any money He stopped the car and asked for cash Yusuf took out a knife and got injured when Santosh tried to fight back Within moments an angry Mustakin slit Santoshrsquos throatSantosh Jha the deceasedVirar police had detained Yusuf Ali Chaus 35 and Mustakin Ali Chaus 25 on Saturday but while speaking to midday on Tuesday they had denied having any knowledge about any accused in the caseHowever on Wednesday they admitted to having booked the Chaus brothers under Sections 302 murder 201 destruction of evidence and 34 common intention of the Indian Penal Code They will be produced before court on Thursday for police custodyThe source told midday that the brothers had booked a cab to Panvel first but on reaching there they convinced Santosh to drop them at Khandala for a payment of Rs 5000 Santosh agreed and switched off his Ola appResidents of Damu Pada in Kandivli the brothers wanted to see their ailing mother at their native place at Nipani in Belgaum district of KarnatakaZonal DCP Prashant Wagunde who is monitoring the probeAt the Khandala toll naka Santosh asked them to pay the toll but they refused saying it was part of the package At the CNG station on being asked Yusuf used his debit card to pay for the gas but he didnrsquot have sufficient balanceThe source said this alarmed Santosh who realised that the duo didnrsquot have any money He insisted they pay at least half the fare but they refused said the source ldquoThis riled Santosh and he stopped the car and an argument broke outrdquoDuring the argument Yusuf took out a knife and told Santosh to start the car But Santosh refused and snatched the knife during which Yusuf sustained an injury to his hand and started bleeding the source said ldquoMustakin who was sitting behind the driverrsquos seat grabbed Santosh and pulled him to the rear seat and snatched the knife from himrdquoldquoYusuf then started driving but Mustakin was angry about his brotherrsquos injury and slit Santoshrsquos throat They threw his body off a bridge in the Lonavala ghatrdquo They then drove the car to a hotel near MumbaiBengaluru highway said Rahul Jha Santoshrsquos son He said the carrsquos owner helped him trace the car which was GPSequippedRahul Jha Santoshrsquos sonThe car owner contacted the hotel and enquired about the vehicle ldquoThe hotel owner confirmed that the car was parked there When the car owner asked to speak with the Chaus brothers they sped awayrdquo said Senior Inspector Suhas Varade of Virar police stationZonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Prashant Wagunde told midday that the vehicle was found abandoned in the jurisdiction of Chandgad police in Kolhapur district SI Varade said a forensic team has collected samples from the carPolice source said they are yet to find the murder weaponThe duo had returned to Mumbai recently Upon investigating the case further Virar police caught the brothers from Kandivli on Saturday and took them to Lonavala on Sunday to retrieve the bodyInvestigation officer Subinspector Abhijit Bhupendra Tailor and his team accompanied the duo to Lonavala to recover the body Police said they admitted to killing SantoshYusuf Ali Chaus one of the accused police arrested on Wednesday PicsHanif PatelCommissioner of Police MiraBhayandar VasaiVirar Sadanand Date said ldquoThe matter is sensitive and complex as it is multi jurisdictional Our teams are conducting a thorough proberdquo The Lonavala police had filed an Accidental Death Report after the body was foundSantosh is survived by his wife Sunita two sons Rahul 23 and Shubham 20 and daughter Laxmi 14