Married cop kills friend dating his married girlfriend in Navi Mumbai, burns body 190km away

NAVI MUMBAI: A Navi Mumbai police constable was arrested for allegedly murdering a friend who started seeing a woman he was in a relationship with. He allegedly strangled the friend to death with the help of three aides in Navi Mumbai's Kalamboli, drove 190km in his car to a Satara village, set the body on fire, and dumped it in a farm's well.

The constable, Bandu Bhise (49), who was married, was attached to Rabale MIDC police station. Two of his accomplices were nabbed in Pune and the third in Satara's Phaltan.

The farm owner in Sukhed village found the partially burnt body on Feb 6 and alerted police, said Satara SP Tushar Doshi. Since the legs were tied with a rope and the autopsy report indicated death by strangulation, a murder case was lodged.

Shivaji Jaypatre, assistant inspector, Lonand police, said the local crime branch, led by inspector Arun Deokar, in assistance with teams from Lonand police station, scoured through footage from around 300 CCTV cameras on the stretch till Pune for three days. Police teams questioned the owners of some 15 vehicles and zeroed in on Bhise's car, which was caught on camera at Khed-Shivapur toll plaza in Pune district while returning to Mumbai early on Feb 6. The car was registered with the Pune RTO and police traced its owner, Bhise, to Kalamboli on Feb 9.

During questioning, Bhise initially gave evasive replies but later confessed to the murder. He revealed the names of the victim—Somnath Bobade (30) from Roadpali in Kalamboli—and his accomplices—Vijay Pawar (36), Kiran Gaikwad (27) and Srinivas Lone (25).

Bhise told police that he and his aides called Bobade for a meeting to resolve their dispute over dating the same woman. But when Bobade arrived, the four allegedly strangled him to death with a rope inside Bhise's car and drove to Sukhed village in the hopes of throwing police off their scent. At the village, they set the body on fire and dumped it in a farm's well.

Deokar said Bobade was unmarried and worked as a cab driver. The woman is estranged from her husband.