Crime Patrol: Blackmail on Facebook drives Mumbai teenager to suicide (Episode 512 on 29th may 2015)

Part 1

Part 2

The Inside Story

Cops believe Abhishek Rasam (18) was driven to suicide by blackmailers who pose as girls online; a ‘girl’ had befriended him on Facebook and her ‘brother’ had threatened to file an FIR for sending lewd messages and photos to his sister unless he was given Rs 8,000



For a mere Rs 8,000, a gang of blackmailers weaved an intricate web of love and deceit and trapped an 18-year-old boy. The B.Com student, who was from a poor family and had no means of coughing up the money, ended up paying with his life by lying on the tracks between Dadar and Matunga station on Valentine’s Day.



Rasam, a BCom student of Nalanda College in Gorai, ran away from his home on February 12 and committed suicide by lying on the railway tracks between Dadar and Matunga station



According to the Borivli police, Abhishek Rasam could be the victim of a gang which lures young boys on Facebook posing as girls, and then extorts money by threatening to file an FIR against them for sending lewd text messages and photographs.

Cops suspect that one of the gang members had set up Priyanka’s Facebook account posing as a girl.



In Rasam’s case, he had got a friend request from a girl named Priyanka and, after a few days of chatting with her, started getting extortion calls from her ‘brother’, who threatened to file an FIR against Rasam unless he was paid Rs 8,000.



Officials say Rasam, a first-year BCom student of Nalanda College in Gorai, ran away from his home on February 12 and, after failing to collect the money, committed suicide by lying on the railway tracks. His head was found severed from his body.



Chance find



Even though Rasam had committed suicide on February 14, the fact that he could have been the victim of blackmail came to the fore only last week.



After Rasam’s body was found on the tracks between Matunga and Dadar, the Dadar GRP suspected that the Valentine’s Day suicide was the result of a failed love affair. The body was dumped in the mortuary of Sion hospital and they almost closed the case.



The Borivli police, meanwhile, had received a missing complaint on February 12 from Rasam’s sister, Ankita, who said that he had left their house in Gorai to attend college, but had not returned. In her complaint, Ankita said that Rasam was tense before he left the house. She tried to find out the reason, but he refused to open up to him.



As the cops began investigations, they found that, in the first week of February, Rasam got a friend request on Facebook from a girl named Priyanka. Rasam accepted her friend request and, soon, the two began chatting regularly.



“We have also recovered certain incriminating photographs from the chats that were exchanged between the two on Facebook. We also believe that the duo had similar chats on WhatsApp, but the deceased’s phone is missing,” an officer from Borivli police station said.



On March 3, the Borivli cops came across the suicide case registered with the Dadar GRP and, after the descriptions matched, asked Ankita to identify whether the deceased was her brother. Ankita confirmed that he was, and the word of Rasam’s suicide spread among the relatives.



Plot thickens



Rasam used to live in Mumbai till he was in Std VII but, after his father’s demise that year, the family could not afford the cost of his education and he was sent to Kankavli in Sindhudurg to live with his uncle. Rasam had returned to the city only last year and had taken admission in Nalanda College.



Speaking to mid-day Ankita said, “When my uncle from Kankavli heard about Abhishek’s suicide, he approached us and said that a couple of days before Abhishek went missing, he had visited him and asked his son for a loan of Rs 8,000.



When Abhishek’s cousin asked about the sudden requirement of money, he opened up to him and narrated his ordeal.” The cousin could not, however, arrange the money. According to Ankita, the cousin told her and the cops that Rasam was blackmailed by a man who claimed that he is the brother of his new Facebook friend, Priyanka.



The brother claimed that he had accessed the chats between the two and that he would register an FIR against Rasam for harassing his sister. When Rasam begged him not to, he gave him an account number and asked him to deposit Rs 8,000 in it.



Probe



The Borivli police have registered a case against an unknown person under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and 294 (obscene acts and songs) of the Indian Penal Code along with section 67 (A) of IT Act.



Officials said that they have recovered the account number given to Rasam from his Facebook account and the account holder, one Raju Rayban Sonune is a suspect in the case. The cops suspect that he had blackmailed Rasam posing as Priyanka’s brother.



They are also trying to trace the IP address used to set up the account of Priyanka, who had befriended Rasam. They believe one of the gang members may have set up the Facebook account posing as a girl.



Inspector Dharnendra Kamble of Borivli police station said, “We feel this could be a racket as such incidents have been occurring for some time now. Besides, they had recently victimised Rasam and demanded Rs 8,000 from him, which he couldn’t manage and, thus, he decided to end his life on the railway tracks in Dadar.”



Thanks To:

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/blackmail-on-facebook-drives-mumbai-teenager-to-suicide/16050192

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Crime Patrol: Cricket-crazy teen from Thane turns to extortion to buy game kit (Episode 510, 511 on 22nd, 24th May 2015)

Part 1

Part 2

The Inside Story

His love for cricket and the necessity of paying his coach’s fee landed a 19-year-old man from Kalwa behind bars.



Harendra Ramchandra Yadav and his accomplice were arrested by the anti-extortion cell on Tuesday for making fake ransom calls to families of people who had gone missing. The reason: Yadav wanted to buy a cricket kit and pay his coach.



They were handed over to the Vartak Nagar police station.



With dreams of making it big, and a fan of Rohit Sharma, Yadav would practise at Azad Maidan. "The accused would play in inter-college matches and claims to have scored 300 runs in four matches," said Nasir Kulkarni, inspector, anti-extortion Cell.



Yadav, who would travel by train, met co-accused Narendra Jaiswal. “Jaiswal was putting up posters of missing people on trains and at the stations. The duo then decided to use the information to make ransom calls to the families,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity



The duo’s scheme came to the fore after the father of a missing boy received a ransom call from Yadav on April 1. He had demanded Rs1 lakh from him.



“The man, however, approached the police. We told him to go with the cash to Thane and Kalwa stations. We thought we could catch the accused, but Yadav did not turn up. Our investigations led us to other families who had received similar calls,” said NT Kadam, senior police inspector, anti-extortion Cell, Thane.



Both accused were tracked through their mobile phones and arrested from Waghoba Nagar in Kalwa. “The accused said they would snatch the money from the victims at the railway station and then flee. We are investigating how many cases they are involved in,” said Kulkarni, adding that they found Yadav’s cricket kit.



Thanks To:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/cricket-crazy-teen-from-thane-turns-to-extortion-to-buy-game-kit/article1-1335250.aspx

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Crime Patrol: Mumbai Crime: Woman, boyfriend nabbed for killing her ex-boyfriend (Episode 507, 508 on 15th, 16th May 2015)

Part 1







Part 2





The Inside Story

The housewife’s current boyfriend and an accomplice allegedly pretended to be cops and strangulated the victim with a rope in August; they then threw his body off the Manor bridge near Vasai



Police claim to have solved a murder that occurred in August, and arrested a housewife and her boyfriend for committing the crime. The victim, who was the woman’s ex-boyfriend, was strangulated to death and his body thrown off a bridge near Vasai.



Dongri police arrested Jyotsna More (34), a housewife from Dahisar, and her current boyfriend, Pravin Patil, for the murder of her former lover Vaibhav Achrekar (31). Cops said More had been in a relationship with Achrekar for several years and knew him since childhood. However, she had broken up with him a few months ago.



The victim, a Dongri resident, had been calling her repeatedly and asking to meet her, despite More refusing to do so. The woman told Patil, who lived in the same building as her, about Achrekar’s continuous calls and asked him what to do.

In August, Patil, along with More and another male friend, Michael, called the victim to Mittar shopping centre in Citizen Colony, Naigaon. The two men pretended to be cops and asked Achrekar why he was harassing More. The duo then allegedly strangulated Achrekar to death with a rope, took his body in a car to the Manor bridge, and tossed it into the Bhayander creek.

Two days later, fishermen found the victim’s body trapped in their fishing nets, and reported it to the Valiv police. Cops circulated the body’s picture to all police stations and the victim’s family, who had recorded a missing complaint with Dongri police, identified him.

When police checked Achrekar’s call details records (CDR), they found More’s number had been dialled repeatedly. On being called for questioning, she told cops everything. Police arrested More and Patil on Sunday on charges of murder and destruction of evidence. The accomplice is still absconding.



Thanks To:

http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-crime-woman-boyfriend-nabbed-for-killing-her-ex-boyfriend/15861159

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Missing Dongri man killed by lover, her beau



MUMBAI: Four months after a 34-year-old man from Dongri was reported missing by his family, a police probe has revealed that he was murdered by his paramour and her newfound lover. The woman and her lover have been arrested.



On August 23, relatives of Vaibhav Asrekar reported that he had been missing since three days. Call records of Asrekar's cellphone showed that he had frequent contact with a certain number belonging to a woman identified as Jyotsna More, also a Dongri resident.



More, a married woman, told the police that she had an affair with Asrekar but had severed ties over some dispute. "We found some inconsistency in her statements and so sought her cellphone records which showed that she was constantly in touch with another man, Prakash Patil. This was so even on the day Vaibhav went missing," said a police officer.



Besides, the cellphone locations of all three—Asrekar, More and Patil—indicated that they were all around the same spot in Dahisar the day Asrekar went missing.



When Patil was interrogated, he told the police that More was his schoolmate, and the two bumped into one another after 15 years at a wedding recently. He and More got into a physical relationship, after which More started avoiding Asrekar's calls. "This led to a fight between them, and More took Patil's help," said a police officer.



On August 20, More asked Asrekar to meet her in Dahisar. She introduced him to Patil and a friend of his as 'policemen'. "The two men took him to a flat at Naigaon where he was assaulted before being strangled," said a police officer. His body was put taken to Manor jungle where it was thrown into a river.



The Manor police confirmed having found a body in August. While Patil, who is also married, and More have been sent to police custody, Patil's friend is at large.



Thanks To:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Missing-Dongri-man-killed-by-lover-her-beau/articleshow/45611008.cms

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Crime Patrol: Missing advocate from Indore murdered, burnt and buried (Episode 505, 506 on 9th, 10th May 2015)

Part 1







Part 2





The Inside Story

Six days after the abduction of an advocate from Indore, police revealed that he was murdered and burnt. Police also nabbed three accused in connection with the heinous offence while two are still at large.



Addressing a press conference on Monday, DIG police Rakesh Gupta said, "The burnt body found in forests near Karahi village in Khargone is that of advocate Devendra Khandelwal, who reportedly went missing on December 23."

Police also said that Khandelwal was murdered owing to a property dispute over land worth Rs 1.6 crore with Lal Chand Hardia. However, the involvement of Hardia in the advocate's murder will have to be probed further.



Kishanlal Rai, a middleman, assured Hardia that he will solve the dispute between them. Rai then asked his accomplices Mahendra Thakur and Rupesh Sharma to eliminate Khandelwal, who started making friends with Khandelwal.



After about a month, the duo took Khandelwal for a booze party and drove him in an Indigo car and strangulated him to death, police said. The camera footage from the bar showed no sign of altercation between the advocate and the accused but based on call records and camera footage, police identified the accused and launched hunt for them.



Kishanlal Rai and Vijay Choukse joined the party to dispose off the advocate's body. They then drove the body into forests in Khargone, burnt the body using petrol and buried him. Interrogation revealed the involvement of Mahendra Thakur, Vijay Choukse, Prabhakar, Rupesh Sharma and Kishanlal Rai in the murder of Khandelwal.



Thanks To:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/indore/missing-advocate-from-indore-murdered-burnt-and-buried-three-held/article1-1301686.aspx

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Crime Patrol: Ex-caretaker's son killed Dahanu couple to pay creditors, found only Rs20,000 (Episode 504, 505 on 8th, 9th May 2015)

Part 1

Part 2

The Inside Story

Mumbai:

Accused Felt The Senior Citizens Would Be Easy To Rob



The senior citizen couple, found murdered in their Dahanu farmhouse last week, was allegedly killed by their former caretaker's son who wanted to rob them, police said.



The accused Ravi Thakur (30), a Surat resident who did odd jobs, had come to Kotim village, Vangaon, four days before killing Naushir Irani (76) and his wife Nargis (74) on December 9.



He planned to kill the couple on December 8 and even cut their power supply . But he could not execute his plan as the couple had switched on their inverter.



On Monday , Ravi was arrested from Surat, where he returned after the crimes, andwas booked for double murder. He was remanded to police custody till December 24, said Palghar district superintendent of police Suvez Haq.



Ravi told the police that he had borrowed money from people in Surat and planned to rob the couple as he felt they were easy targets. But he managed to get only around Rs 20,000 from the farmhouse, said police.



Ravi worked in the Irani bungalow as a teen with his father Ramkhilawan, who passed away four years ago. He was thrice caught stealing from the couple's bungalow as a teen but was always let off with a warning. After his father's death, he moved to Surat where he married and lived under a new name.



From December 5, he kept a watch on the couple's movements. On December 9, he entered the farmhouse at around 7.30pm, long after the couple's house help left around 6pm. He entered the bungalow from the rear side and killed Naushir, who was in the kitchen, with a sharp weapon. He came out of the farmhouse and saw Nargis returning from her walk. He slit her throat and dragged her underneath a tree. The farmhouse did not have any CCTV or a security guard.



Police said after the killings, he returned to the farmhouse and watched television, had milk and fruits stocked in the refrigerator. He even moved around in the 15-acre plot and ate fruits frmo the orchard. Police said Ravi was aware that no one visited the couple after their maid left every day .



The couple's daughter Tanaaz would speak to her parents at night. When she did not hear from them that night, she asked the maid to get to the bungalow early morning the next day .



Ravi was the prime suspect as the caretaker of an adjoining bungalow had seen him in the area last Monday . He was nabbed based on his cellphone location. Police said there were two previous cases of theft registered against him in Palghar.



Thanks To:

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Ex-caretakers-son-killed-Dahanu-couple-to-pay-16122014003013

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Crime Patrol: Body of former rape case convict found near mall in Malad (Episode 495, 496 on 17th, 18th Apr 2015)

Part 1





Part 2





The Inside Story

According to the Goregaon police, the body of Babu Hussain was spotted by a local resident at about 7 am near a drain behind Ankur Building on Link Road.



The body, which bore several wounds caused by a sharp object, was discovered wrapped in bedsheets, plastic and paper sheets, the police said, adding that the victim`s identity was established through his fingerprints.



"We checked his fingerprints in our records and found that he was convicted for rape in 2001. We are looking for his family members for further leads," an officer said.



Hussain had been arrested for rape in 2001 by the Kurar police, and sentenced to a seven-year jail term by a court, which he had served.



"It is suspected that the man was murdered a day or two days ago, as the body is not much decomposed, the officer said.



This is the third body found in the city this fortnight.

On Sunday, a tailor`s body was found in a suitcase behind Ryan International School, while a woman`s severed body part was found near the Bandra-Worli Sea Link on September 22.



Thanks To:

http://zeenews.india.com/news/maharashtra/body-of-former-rape-case-convict-found-near-mall-in-malad_881978.html

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Cops identify murdered rape convict, arrest 3 neighbours for the crime



Three days after the body of Babu Hussain, a rape convict, was found near Hypercity Mall in Malad (W) on Tuesday, three people have been arrested for the murder. According to the police, it was the crucial fingerprint analysis of the body that led them to identify Hussain and nab Nilesh Ghodse, 29, Santosh Ghodse, 35, and Shankar Ghodse, 25. Another accused, Satish Yadav, is on the run.



The body of 36-year-old, was found wrapped in a blanket and plastic bag near the mall. “The body had several deep cuts and wounds. Our constable suspected the body could be that of a criminal and immediately sent the fingerprints for comparison. Within four hours, we got the report. The fingerprints matched to that of a rape convict who was in prison between 2003 and 2008,” said Mahesh Patil, DCP Zone 11, adding that this a rare case where the fingerprints helped the police to identify the deceased in no time.



After checking Hussain’s records, the police traced his house to Aadarsh Nagar in Aarey Colony. All the four accused were Hussain’s neighbours. “The four had personal enmity with the deceased, as Hussain was eying Santosh’s wife. Besides, Hussain had also borrowed Rs80,000 from Nilesh, which he refused to return,” added Patil.



The case

On Monday, Hussain, Nilesh Ghodse and Satish Yadav were drinking when a fight broke out. The two assaulted Hussain with a knife. Santosh and Shankar Ghodse helped dump the body. While the three brothers have been arrested, Yadav is absconding.

Thanks To:

http://zeenews.india.com/news/maharashtra/body-of-former-rape-case-convict-found-near-mall-in-malad_881978.html

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Crime Patrol: Missing family of five found buried on school premises (Episode 501, 502 on 1st, 2nd May 2015)

Part 1

Part 2

The Inside Story

Five members of a family who had been missing since one-and-a-half years, were found murdered and their bodies buried on the premises of a school here today, police said.



The district officials exhumed the highly-decomposed bodies from the premises of Zion English medium school.



The case dates back to February 2013, when the family head K Krupakar, correspondent of the school, allegedly killed his wife Mounika on suspicion of the latter having an extra marital affair, said Kadapa SP Naveen Gulati.



He said that the incident came to light after police arrested Ramanjul Reddy (25), a close aide of Krupakar who is also among dead.



The deceased are identified as: Krupakar (35), Mounika (30), and their children, namely Angel (8), Pavitra (4) and Raju (6).



"Krupakar had buried his wife's body on the school campus with the help of Reddy. He later hired contract killers to murder the man whom he suspected having an affair with his deceased wife," Gulati said.

Krupakar strangulated his three children in April 2013 and buried their bodies on the school premises before committing suicide, the SP said.



However, it is not yet clear why he killed the kids.



Krupakar's father and chairman of Zion College and Zion English Medium High School, K Rajaratnam Isaac, reportedly told Mounika's mother Sujatha that the family had gone abroad though he was aware of the killings and burial of the bodies, Gulati said.



Police had formed a special team on Sujatha's complaint to trace the family.



According to sources, Issac was admitted in a Chennai-based hospital and is likely to be arrested soon.



Thanks To:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/missing-family-of-five-found-buried-on-school-premises-114100701313_1.html

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Zion English Medium High School founder-chairman K. Rajaratnam Isaac was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in connection with the mysterious death of his son Krupakar Issac, his wife Mounika and three children and burial of their bodies on the school premises here about one-and-a-half years ago.



Had Rajaratnam Isaac alerted the police on Mounika’s murder, four other deaths in the family could have been averted, Kadapa DSP C. Rajeswara Reddy told newsmen.



Fearing loss of his prestige, Isaac remained mum on the deaths, he added.



He was arrested after being discharged from a hospital in Chennai and was produced in the media conference.



The five bodies were exhumed from the school premises during investigation on a complaint filed by Mounika’s mother Velpula Sujatha on August 5 this year.



The police had earlier arrested Rajaratnam Isaac’s driver C. Ramanjaneya Reddy, former correspondent of the school Ramana Reddy and a hired assassin of Lakkireddipalle Bhanuprakash.



Meanwhile, Regional Joint Director of School Education Ramana Reddy cancelled the recognition granted to Zion English Medium High School and Zion Primary School, Kadapa DEO K. Anjaiah said.



Thanks To:

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/zion-school-founder-arrested/article6492868.ece

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