Four held for murder of 19-year-old

Police say Manoj Kalate's friends killed him last month to rob him of his money and belongings

Four youngsters have been arrested in connection with last month's murder of their friend Manoj Baburao Kalate (19) at Lawale-Pirangut road near Lawale village.

The police said the motive of the murder on October 27 was getting hold of Kalate's money and valuables.

The arrested people were identified as Vikas Mahadeo Alange (20), Satish alias Satyawaan Sonkamble (25), both residents of Wakad, Baba Uttam Muthal (20) of Hinjewadi and Subera Raj Prasad (29) of Miraj.

The Hinjewadi police recovered a gold chain, two cell phones and Rs 5,000 from Prasad, who was arrested from Jamkhindi in Karnataka. The chain, cell phones and the cash had been stated as missing by Kalate's family when his body was found.

The police also recovered two laptops, three LCD monitors and a two-wheeler from Sonkamble.

"The four knew that Kalate was from a well-to-do family and we believe that is the reason why these three hatched a plot to kill him with the intention of robbing him of his money and belongings," said Police Inspector (Crime) Nandkishor Bhosale-Patil.

The police said Sonkamble and Muthal were working as drivers while Prasad was working as a security guard at a company in Bavdhan.

Kalate, of Wakadkar Vasti in Wakad, was missing from October 26 and a missing complaint had been lodged by his brother Pappu.

The Paud police had found a body near Lavale village on October 27 and later Kalate's family had identified it as his. The police said Kalate was strangled with a nylon rope.

Kalate's family had gone on to lodge a complaint against two of the men now arrested, Alange and Sonkamble.
The family said Kalate was to meet Sonkamble on October 27 and was dropped near Indira College by Alange. Kalate had asked Alange to come there again in an hour to pick him up.

But Alange had called Kalate's family later saying he could not find Kalate where he was supposed to pick him up. The family had then called on Kalate's cell phone but found it switched off.

After some time, the family had called Sonkamble, who said he would come to meet them in some time but did not turn up.

During the search operation, the police arrested Alange in Hinjewadi while Sonkamble was found in Bengaluru.
Their interrogation revealed that two other men, Muthal and Prasad, were also involved in the murder. The police found Muthal in Hinjewadi and Prasad in Jamkhandi.

All the four accused were remanded in police custody till November 18.

DCP (Zone III) Dnyaneshwar Chavan praised the efforts of API S G Kale and Police Inspectors Ganapat Madgulkar and Bhosale-Patil in the case.