After murdering Priyanka Gurav (24), hacking her body to bits and dumping the body parts at different spots, her husband and in-laws were confident that they would never be found out
Priyanka Gurav
After murdering Priyanka Gurav (24), hacking her body to bits and dumping the body parts at different spots, her husband and in-laws were confident that they would never be found out. But when Priyanka's sister identified her mutilated body from a tattoo she saw in a mid-day report on May 9, the Gurav family knew their game was up. Scared of being arrested, they then considered committing suicide, said cops.
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Siddesh killed Priyanka just five days after their wedding
The plot continued to unravel late last night, as the Rabale MIDC police found the semi-burnt remains of Priyanka's lower limbs in a rexine bag at Khoni village, near the Ambernath-Badlapur Road. "We have recovered a burnt portion of a rexine bag, which had semi-burnt remains of limbs and bones inside it. The spot is in a secluded area," said the investigating officer, Inspector P Jadhav.
She was killed at home, at the PWD quarters in Worli (green house)
The bag was set ablaze with an inflammable liquid. The recovered bone will be examined and samples will be sent for DNA examination.
Planned days in advance
The cops said that the plan to murder Priyanka had been hatched 10 days in advance. Priyanka's husband Siddesh Gurav (23), his parents and one of his friends, Durgesh Patwa, murdered her on the night of May 4.
Cops found her charred remains nearly 50 km away in Khoni village
"The Guravs were confident that they had a foolproof plan, and that the police would never be able to find Priyanka's body parts or identify her. They had instructed the co-accused Durgesh to dump the three body parts (head, lower limbs and torso) at different places, so that Priyanka could never be traced. When the Gurav family learnt that that the torso had been identified, they feared that they would get exposed, so they planned to end their lives," said an officer from the Crime Branch.
After Kavita approached the Rabale MIDC police station, the cops called the Gurav family for questioning, but they continued to feign ignorance. However, through Siddesh's call records, cops zeroed in on Durgesh, who cracked during interrogation and revealed everything.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Doshi said, "Durgesh revealed that he was paid Rs 40,000 for the murder and disposing of the body, and that the money had already been transferred to his bank account by Siddesh."
How they did it
"Durgesh, a resident of Titwala, was a friend of Siddesh's. On the night of May 4, after Priyanka fell asleep, the Gurav family allowed Durgesh into the house at Worli, and they smothered her to death with a pillow," the officer said.
They dragged her body to the bathroom, where they cut her head and lower limbs from the torso. In the middle of the night, Durgesh wrapped the body parts in a plastic sheet and drove out alone to dispose of them.
"Unaware of Durgesh's arrest, Siddesh and his parents kept denying any knowledge of the murder. However, after sustained interrogation, Siddesh's father Manohar broke down and admitted to the crime. When Durgesh was produced before Siddesh, he too confessed to the crime," said one of the officers.
All four accused have been booked for murder, conspiracy and destruction of evidence. PI Jadhav added, "We have the accused in police custody till May 22. We have to find the missing head, as well as the murder weapon and the car used to transport the body parts."
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