Investigators suspect Sena leader's murder inside job

MUMBAI: In a parallel investigation led by the crime branch and Kurar police in connection to the murder of a local Shiv Sena leader Sachin Sawant, it is suspected that the murder is an ‘inside job’. Investigators suspect that the crime could be linked to any party worker or a relative and that the victim may have got wind of the conspiracy against him. Four days prior to the murder he confided to his family members that there could be a threat to his and their life to a SRA project he was associated with and asked them further to alert him if they came across any unusual activity by any body, said a source.

“Mr Sawant got a hunch about the same, and had discussed the fate of his business a few days ago with family,” said the source. The police also found contradictions in the accounts given by persons close to the deceased that raised the police’s suspicion, said a source. According to the sources, the close aides of Sawant were questioned with regards to connect the dots to the events/disagreements he had with anyone that led to his murder, and got some contradictory statements from Sawant’s close aides instead. The crime branch officials now have a new list of suspects who were working with Sawant till Sunday, and are now checking their profiles to see if they had any ulterior motives to commit the crime.

A senior crime branch official requesting anonymity said, “We strongly suspect that the SRA project, which was stuck for years together, was the main reason for Sawant being killed. The police have also questioned a few developers who were associated with the project in the past, to get a clearer picture on the business relationship that was shared between them and Sawant.”

Udaykumar Rajeshirke, senior police inspector of Kurar police station said, “The family has shared some details about the life threats that the deceased got, and we are checking his call data records to track down the probable suspects.” The police has picked up and questioned over 30 suspects since Sunday, including a few developers.