Thane, February 26 The crime branch of the Navi Mumbai police has arrested four individuals for allegedly beating a 31-year-old man to death, suspecting him of theft, officials said on Thursday.
Sandeep Laxmikant Vishwakarma, a resident of Mankhurd in Mumbai, was reported missing on February 15, and his body was found the following day within the jurisdiction of the Rabale MIDC police station, according to a press release.
The autopsy report revealed that Vishwakarma had died due to injuries sustained during an assault.
Mobile phone records showed that Vishwakarma was in Vashi on February 15 and had spoken with a scrap dealer.
"Interrogation revealed that the deceased was caught while allegedly stealing electric poles and wires. The accused beat him up, resulting in his death, and carried his body in a rickshaw and dumped it near a drain in Mahape MIDC," the release stated.
Sanket Jagtap, the rickshaw driver, allegedly confessed that he and three others caught Vishwakarma stealing from electrical distribution points (DPs) and assaulted him.
Subsequently, police arrested Pritam Bharat Bhoir (26), Shivaji Shankar Dumbare (57), and Amol Ramesh Gunjal (31). Gunjal is an electrician.
Further investigation is ongoing.