The recent developments in a five-year-old hit-and-run case has left the crime-branch in splits. In what was earlier thought to be a road accident in Sion, central Mumbai, it has emerged that village sarpanch from Uttar Pradesh allegedly managed to pass off the murder of his business partner as an accident.
The Mumbai crime branch on Thursday arrested two persons in connection with the incident.
While the police is on search hunt for the accused Sarpanch, those arrested so far have been identified as Amol Padova and Saifuddin Qureshi.
On January 14, 2014, a hit-and-run accident took place in the Wadala area. A tanker ran over a cyclist identified as Iqbal Khan, who supplied raw material to bakeries in the eastern suburb. A case of causing death due to negligence was registered against unidentified persons. The tanker driver was never tracked down. There was no development in the case until a few days back when Amol Padova, the alleged tanker driver, who, after having a few drinks, complained about how he was yet to receive Rs 30,000 for a murder he committed in 2014.
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According to Crime Branch officers, the deceased, 43-year-old Ikhlakh Khan, used to supply bakery products on his bicycle and stay with his family in Sion Koliwada.
While Khan and the main accused were business partners in the city, they were political rivals at their village in Hardoi district of UP.
The main accused, who wanted to be elected sarpanch in their village, had lost the polls in 2014. He believed that it was due to Khan that he lost and swore revenge. He also had to pay around Rs 10 lakh to Khan. Hence, he decided to get rid of Khan and approached Qureshi, a owner of several tankers from Mahim.
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