Three held for killing woman and burying her body in Raigad

Mumbai: Three men have been arrested for allegedly killing a woman, whose body was exhumed from a village in Raigad district of Maharashtra on Thursday, almost two months after her murder, police said on Friday.

The accused have been identified as Sunil Shirke (44), Ramchandra Jadhav and Vijay More. While Shirke and Jadhav were arrested on Wednesday, the third accused was held a day later, police said.

According to police, Shirke had hatched a plan to eliminate Rohini Ghorpade (28), as she was insisting him to marry her.

"Ghorpade, a resident of suburban Mankhurd, had left her home on November 14 saying she was going to attend a friend's wedding. However, as she did not return home, her brother lodged a missing person's complaint with Mankhurd police station," an official said.

During the investigation, it came to light that the victim was having an affair with Shirke. Both of them worked in the same municipal hospital in Vashi, he said.

"Further investigation revealed that Rs 65,000 were withdrawn from the woman's bank account a day after she went missing. The cash was withdrawn from two ATMs in Vashi in Navi Mumbai," the official added.

The person who had withdrawn the money was later identified as Jadhav, a friend of Shirke, police said adding that the duo was arrested on Wednesday.

"During their interrogation, it came to light that Shirke wanted to get rid of Ghorpade as she was insisting him to marry her. Fed up with her demands, Shirke hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Ghorpade. He executed the plan by roping in Jadhav and More," the official said.

As per the plan, the trio took the victim to Shirke's native place in Raigad district and murdered her on November 14. Later, they also buried her body there.

After the accused told about the place where the woman was buried, the police exhumed her body on Thursday.

The trio has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for kidnapping and murder, the official said.

With inputs from PTI.