Virar murder: How friends figured out killers hand in victim's murder

The police could have caught suspected serial killer Pintoo Sharma last year if they had just listened to the suspicions of Arvind Ranades family and friends It took them just two days to figure out what has taken the police an entire year to piece together that Sharma had likely also killed their friend Ranade chopped up his body and disposed of it just like he did with Virar victim Ganesh KoladkarArvind Ranade 58 a senior development officer at LIC went missing on February 21 2018 right after he went for a meeting with his junior Pintoo Sharma who is now suspected of being a serial killer It did not take long for his friends to piece together what had happened to him They pulled CCTV footage from the area and even grilled Sharma about what had happened that dayPintoo Sharma visits his flat in Naigaon at 9 am on February 21 before returning there with Arvind SharmaRanades close friends said That day his reporting manager received a WhatsApp message at 127 pm saying Today I have three appointments at vasai with my new agent Pintu so not coming to office sic Ranade was a bachelor and was living with his elderly mother Usha 87 who is bedridden and is now being taken care of by distant relatives in Borivli His neighbours told midday that on the fateful day Ranade left his house with Sharma around 11 am The duo got inside Ranades car and his driver Uttam drove them to Sharmas rented flat in Naigaon where they reached around 130 pm said Ranades friendThey checked CCTV footageThis was the last time Ranade was seen alive When he was nowhere to be found Ranades friends got worried and started questioning his neighbours and driver The driver Uttam told them that after he dropped the duo at Sharmas building the accused told him to leave Their suspicions further aroused the friends then checked the CCTV footage from the Naigaon buildingAround 130 pm Ranade and Sharma arrive at the accuseds flat in the accuseds car Only Sharma is seen leavingThey spotted Ranades car enter the society on February 21 but never saw him or the vehicle leave the premises They also saw Sharma visit the flat carrying a large bag before he went there with Ranade Following the meeting with Ranade they saw Sharma visit the flat again this time with a large blue drum It is to be noted that in the Virar murder Sharma kept chopped pieces of flesh in a bucket from which he poured them into the toilet We strongly suspect Sharma used this blue drum for the same purpose in the Ranade case said a friendAnd also interrogated himThe amateur sleuths then visited Sharmas flat and grilled him about Ranades disappearance In a video recording of the interrogation on February 24 2018 Sharma is seen telling them that he had been trying to contact Ranade a day after his disappearance but his phone calls went unansweredSharma claimed Ranade was about to meet someone special in the flat so I went outside I had kept the key with me and had told him that once he was done he could just shut the door The next day I came to the building and his car was parked here Ranade had asked me whether it was okay to leave his car parked here I told him the parking area was vacantSharma is seen heading back to the flat with a large blue drum may have been used to dispose the bodyBut the friends were not satisfied especially after they saw a hacksaw blade pliers screw driver and a table fan on the kitchen platform in a flat that was otherwise empty They told midday Last year we had asked Sharma why there was a hacksaw blade a pair of pliers and screw driver inside the flat when it was still vacant He told us that he was about to relocate there with his wife and two sons and needed to do some electrical wiring inside the flatThe victims friends nothing about Sharmas story added up He joined Ranades office on January 23 2018 a month before the disappearance When Ranade went missing Sharma did not report to work for six months which the group has alleged the police did not bother to verify Something is missing in the case which the Valiv police failed to get till date We strongly suspect that Sharma joined Ranades office just to eliminate him said a friend Ranades cousin Sriniwas Patwardhan told midday The police did not investigate the case thoroughly Due to a lack of evidence Sharma was released on bailed last year Another friend of Ranades said We got CCTV footage from a shop near Sharmas flat and scanned 40 hours of footage We have the vital CCTV grabs to the then investigating officer but the case is yet to be solvedExinvestigating officer saysThe then investigating officer IO Sudheer Dhayarkar who is currently an API at Palghar police station confirmed to this reporter that pliers screw driver and table fan had indeed been recovered from the flat But I cant remember if there was a hacksaw blade too added Dhayarkar who is at present undergoing departmental training in PuneDhayarkar further said We had interrogated Sharma seriously but he did not reveal anything He seems to be a thickskinned criminal There are three roads leading to the said flat in Naigaon There was no CCTV camera installed in the building Sharma told us that he had gone to purchase something for his house when Ranade left the house We scanned the CCTV footage but Ranade was not seen thereTwo days after Ranades disappearance Sharma called Ranades mother pretending to be her son and said I am in Pune for some important work for two days I will return to Mumbai soon However his mum was not ready to believe the caller She said That was not my sons voice said Ranades friendCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates