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Mumbai Police Crime Branch’s Unit 11 has arrested four people – two of them minors – for contracting to kill a 53-year-old man earlier this month.

Nilesh Bachchu Patil, 25, Lucky Kishore Birare, 19, and the two minors, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly killed Rajendra Uttamrao Marathe and disposed of his body in Nandurbar.

Details of case

According to police officials, Marathe’s son-in-law, Govind Suresh Sonar, 35, allegedly paid the accused Rs3 lakh to carry out the killing.

Marathe, who lived in Nandurbar with his wife, was reported missing on March 14. His disappearance prompted his wife to file a missing person report at Shahada police station. On March 16, a charred body was discovered, later confirmed to be that of Marathe. The police then filed an FIR based on the complaint of the victim’s daughter.

On Monday the Nandurbar police received a tip-off that the suspects were fleeing Mumbai. The police passed on this intel to the crime branch. The police deployed a combination of technical expertise and human intelligence to arrest the suspects near Pepsi Ground, Gorai No 2, Borivali (West).

After examining the case, the police found that Sonar had paid the suspects Rs3 lakh for the murder. Additionally, a video clip capturing the crime and the disposal of evidence was found on the mobile phone of one of the suspects. Authorities recovered mobile phones and Rs45,330 in cash from the accused.