Unnamed accused in murder case hobnobs with cops for 16 years

Mumbai: For 16 years, this murder accused hid in plain sight, mingling with cops and even becoming their informer. He had been living without fear of being arrested as he was confident his name was not mentioned in the FIR of a case. However, while investigating a cold case, the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police learnt about his involvement and arrested him on Friday.

Nilesh Dandekar, who is the main accused in the murder of Sanjay Vinod Jha, 32, a production manager of a garment company, was living in Mira Road and working as an estate agent and a police informer.

Dandekar was named by two accused Puransingh Pratapsingh Unyoni alias Puransingh Kapursingh Parihar, 41, and Mohansingh Pratapsingh Unyoni alias Mohansingh Kapursingh Parihar, 38, who were arrested from Uttarakhand by the officers of crime branch last month.

“We keep investigating cold cases and, in this one, we knew that the accused were in Uttarakhand but did not have their addresses,” said a crime branch officer from MBVVV. After coordinating with Uttarakhand police, the crime branch officers arrested Pratapsingh and Mohansingh from Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand on March 23.

“During interrogation, the two revealed the names of Dandekar and Ashok Jharkar and both of them were arrested from Mira Road and Dombivali respectively,” said the officer.

Dandekar had a financial dealing with Jha. On December 13, 2007, Dandekar, Jharkar, Mohansingh and Pratapsingh met Jha in the evening and after consuming alcohol, they had an argument after which the four of them allegedly strangled Jha and smashed his face with a stone before dumping the body near Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on December ,13, 2007.

“The family members of Jha only knew the names of Pratapsingh and Mohansingh because of which Dandekar’s name never surfaced,” said the officer.

“Since Dandekar was confident that the FIR does not contain his name and the accused named in the FIR were absconding, he was carefree. We knew that he was often seen in the Mira Road police station trying to help cops but none of them knew about his past,” added the officer.