Nagpur: In a significant breakthrough, the wanted accused in the kidnapping and murder of property dealer Manish Shrivas, Sheikh Mohatsim Sheikh Sardar, was nabbed by Nagpur Crime Branch on Tuesday. Cops were on his trail for the past one year.
A resident of Chittaranjan Nagar, New Kamptee, the accused Sheikh Sardar (38), a member of arrested mastermind Ranjit Safelkar’s gang, was hiding in Morfata Dargah premises in Deolapar. On Tuesday, the Crime Branch received a tip-off regarding the presence of the goon. Acting swiftly, cops trapped him before he could escape again.
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Tuesday 28 Jan. 2025
It is pertinent to recall that after nine years, the Crime Branch had cracked the mystery behind the murder of Manish Shrivas. Three hard-core criminals named Sharad alias Kalu Narayan Hatey, Bharat Hatey and Hemant Gorkha were arrested in this connection. The mastermind Ranjit Safelkar and Chhotu Bagde, Isak Maske and a few others also were involved in the sensational murder case.
The probe had revealed that accused Chhotu Bagde had taken Shrivas on the pretext of introducing him to a young woman on March 4, 2012. He was taken to a house situated in the fields near Pawangaon (Dhargaon) on Kamptee-Kalamna Road where the woman along with Safelkar, Hatey brothers, Bagde, Maske, Gorkha and others were sitting. The accused killed Shrivas with sharp-edged weapons and brought the body to another house at Kamptee in a car. They then chopped the body into several small pieces and stuffed them in gunny bags. The accused then dumped the bags in a nearby forest. Before leaving his Gaddigodam residence, Shrivas had told his mother that he was going with his partners in the real estate business.
On March 13, 2012, Diwakar Kottulwar, Ashish Kottulwar and their accomplices killed another goon Montu Bhullar in MIDC area. Bagde and Maske allegedly told Shrivas’ family that he was absconding after killing Montu Bhullar. For three years, Shrivas’ family did not lodge any complaint as he too was involved in two murder cases. On March 16, 2016, Shrivas’ wife Savitri approached Panchpaoli Police who registered a case of kidnapping.
Crime Branch had nabbed Hatey brothers from Ajmer for their alleged involvement in architect Eknath Nimgade murder case. During their custodial interrogation, they confessed to killing Shrivas with other accused. Shrivas allegedly had taken ‘Supari’ to eliminate Safelkar. When Safelkar came to know about it, he and his accomplices decided to kill him.
