MUMBAI: Police on Thursday arrested builder Vimal Jain of Hiya Group in connection with the murder of gangster Sumit Yerunkar (38) in Chunabhatti on December 24, bringing the number of arrests in the case to 13.
While initially Chunabhatti police believed that Yerunkar had been shot dead over gang rivalry, they have now concluded that it was a revenge killing. Yerunkar had been recently released from jail following his acquittal in a 2016 firing case at the Jains’ office in which Vimal’s brother Jinesh was injured.
Police sources claimed that Vimal had not only hatched the murder plan with the main shooter, Sanil Patil alias Sunny (37), but had also financed the killing. “During analysis of the call detail reports (CDR) of the arrested accused’s phones, we found that Vimal was constantly in touch with the shooters, especially Sanil. Also, during interrogation, the co-accused spilled the beans on Vimal,” said an officer from Chunabhatti police station. “Since the murder, Vimal had switched off his phone. When we called him to record his statement, he was unable to give satisfactory answers, which further raised our suspicion. Later we found evidence aga inst him and arrested him.”
On December 24, Yerunkar, accompanied by his aides Roshan Lokhande and Akash Khandagle, was heading to a photo studio when he bumped into Sanil and they had a heated argument. Around 3.15pm, Sanil, Sagar Sawant , Narendra Patil and Ashutosh Gavand — all former Yerunkar gang members — allegedly barged into the photo studio and fired indiscriminately, killing Yerunkar, and injuring his aides and two bystanders, including an eight-year-old girl.
Within eight hours of the incident, the four alleged shooters were arrested. On December 26, police arrested Kalamboli jeweller Saniddhya Desai, who had allegedly given money to Sanil to procure wea pons and two bikes that were used in the crime and provided shelter to the shooters, and Prabhakar Pachindre, who had allegedly conducted a recce of the photo studio. Last week, Nachiket Gavand, Prashant Rotkar and Prajyot Mane were arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the murder and on Wednesday, Abhishek Chalke, Vignesh Kamble and Ranjit Yadav were nabbed from Uttar Pradesh.
In 2016, Yerunkar and his aides were arrested for barging into Jinesh’s office in Everard Nagar in Chunabhatti and opening fire, injuring him. They were booked under the MCOCA and relevant IPC sections, but were acquitted by a special court in October 2022 owing to lack of evidence.
While initially Chunabhatti police believed that Yerunkar had been shot dead over gang rivalry, they have now concluded that it was a revenge killing. Yerunkar had been recently released from jail following his acquittal in a 2016 firing case at the Jains’ office in which Vimal’s brother Jinesh was injured.
Police sources claimed that Vimal had not only hatched the murder plan with the main shooter, Sanil Patil alias Sunny (37), but had also financed the killing. “During analysis of the call detail reports (CDR) of the arrested accused’s phones, we found that Vimal was constantly in touch with the shooters, especially Sanil. Also, during interrogation, the co-accused spilled the beans on Vimal,” said an officer from Chunabhatti police station. “Since the murder, Vimal had switched off his phone. When we called him to record his statement, he was unable to give satisfactory answers, which further raised our suspicion. Later we found evidence aga inst him and arrested him.”
On December 24, Yerunkar, accompanied by his aides Roshan Lokhande and Akash Khandagle, was heading to a photo studio when he bumped into Sanil and they had a heated argument. Around 3.15pm, Sanil, Sagar Sawant , Narendra Patil and Ashutosh Gavand — all former Yerunkar gang members — allegedly barged into the photo studio and fired indiscriminately, killing Yerunkar, and injuring his aides and two bystanders, including an eight-year-old girl.
Within eight hours of the incident, the four alleged shooters were arrested. On December 26, police arrested Kalamboli jeweller Saniddhya Desai, who had allegedly given money to Sanil to procure wea pons and two bikes that were used in the crime and provided shelter to the shooters, and Prabhakar Pachindre, who had allegedly conducted a recce of the photo studio. Last week, Nachiket Gavand, Prashant Rotkar and Prajyot Mane were arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the murder and on Wednesday, Abhishek Chalke, Vignesh Kamble and Ranjit Yadav were nabbed from Uttar Pradesh.
In 2016, Yerunkar and his aides were arrested for barging into Jinesh’s office in Everard Nagar in Chunabhatti and opening fire, injuring him. They were booked under the MCOCA and relevant IPC sections, but were acquitted by a special court in October 2022 owing to lack of evidence.