Kandivali murder: Victim shot dead by wife’s lover, say police

Mumbai: The investigation into the murder of a local imitation jewellery shop owner in Kandivali took an unexpected turn when it was revealed that the lover of the victim’s wife allegedly killed the woman’s husband to stay with her in Mumbai.

The accused – identified as Rohit Chandrashekhar Pal, 23 – was arrested on Monday from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly shooting Monoj Lalchand Chauhan on Sunday with a country-made revolver in Kandivali.

According to the police, Pal was a driver and had an affair with Chauhan’s wife before she got married. Police officials said that the two had not stopped seeing each other even after the woman got married.

“Chauhan’s wife used to visit Mumbai with her two kids to stay with her husband, however, the couple used to fight a lot and the woman used to return to her village soon after,” said an officer from Kandivali Police Station. “Two months ago, Chauhan had sent his wife back to the village but then had changed his mind and was going to leave for Jaunpur on May 24 to get her back.”

Pal did not want his lover to leave and therefore, on May 25, he came to Mumbai armed with a country-made revolver to kill Chauhan, so that he could marry Chauhan’s wife, said the officer, adding, “Pal monitored Chauhan’s movements for two days, looking for a chance to shoot him. On Sunday, when Chauhan left his house to go to the saloon, Pal got the chance, as there was less crowd on the road. He approached Chauhan and shot him in his temple before fleeing the spot.”

He added that after an FIR was registered against an unidentified man, the police scanned CCTV footage of the area and got the call data records (CDR) of Chauhan. “We then got the call data records of the people who Chauhan had called frequently, including his wife, brother and a few friends,” added the officer.

In the CDR of Chauhan’s wife, the police found a frequently called number. “We then found out that the number belonged to Pal. On getting the location of Pal’s phone during the day and time of the shooting, we found that Pal’s phone was in Laljipada where the shootout took place. The CDR also revealed that the accused then travelled to Malad station, then to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus station in Kurla and further locations confirmed that Pal then travelled to Prayagraj,” added the officer.

“Pal has confessed to the killing. However, we have not been able to find the murder weapon, which Pal had got from UP,” said Vishal Thakur, joint commissioner of police, law and order.

The police are yet to ascertain if Chauhan’s wife knew about Pal’s intentions or was part of the plot to kill her husband.