85-year-old found dead in house, newly hired caretaker prime suspect

MUMBAI: An 85-year-old was found murdered at his residence in Santacruz on Monday morning. The deceased, identified as Dr Murlidhar Purshottam Naik, had strangulation marks on his neck and his hands were tied. A live-in caretaker, who was hired eight days back and is absconding after the incident, is the prime suspect, according to the police.

The victim was living in a high-rise apartment in Santacruz with his wife Dr Uma. Since Dr Naik was finding it difficult to get by with his everyday routine, they hired a live-in caretaker, identified as Krishna Manbahadur Periyar, 30, through an agency, who would assist him 24/7. The caretaker slept in Dr Naik’s bedroom to be Dr Naik’s beck and call.

The couple also had domestic help at home for cleaning and cooking. It was the maid who found Naik’s body in his bedroom Monday morning.

“Periyar had started working for the Naik family on May 1. He was hired specifically to take care of Murlidhar. And his wife Uma slept in a different room,” said deputy commissioner of police Krishnakant Upadhyay, who holds the additional charge of Zone 9. Upadhyay added that when Uma and the maid saw the door of Murlidhar’s room ajar, they assumed Periyar was with him and helping him with his morning chores.

Around 8.30am, Dr Naik’s wife Uma asked the maid to get Dr Naik out to the dining room for morning tea. “His wife Uma had been awake for over an hour at this point but had not checked on her husband. When the domestic help went in, she saw Murlidhar on the bed but unmoving. Periyar was nowhere to be seen. Upon closer inspection, the maid saw that his hands were tied at the back,” said Upadhyay. He also added that the police are waiting for the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of death. They have also found strangulation marks on the neck of the deceased.

The Naiks have three grown-up children, all of whom are married and living with their spouses in different localities of the city. When the body was discovered by the house help, she got in touch with the elder son of the couple who lives in Vile Parle with the help of some neighbours, said the police.

“We are on the lookout for the caretaker. He is the prime suspect as of now on account of his absconding. We have not been able to establish any motive yet,” Upadhyay added.