Palghar: Car bonnet rivet leads the police to body of missing social worker

The Local Crime Branch LCB of Palghar police recovered the decomposed body of a missing 52yearold social worker Ashok Dhodi and his car from an isolated stone mining area in Valsad district of Gujarat on FridayAshok was suspected to have been kidnapped by his brother Avinash Dhodi a member of the liquor mafia and his gang members on January 20 but the Gholvad police initially registered a missing personrsquos complaint But after the media highlighted the sensitivity of the case the cops registered a kidnapping case naming Avinash Manoj Rajput and Sunil Dhodi as accusedAshok Dhodi the deceased right Avinash Dhodi the deceasedrsquos younger brother and prime suspect PICSHANIF PATELAshokrsquos body was found wrapped in a plastic sheet and dumped in the rear seat of the car which was removed from a 100footdeep pit surrounded by rugged terrain at an isolated area of Sarigam town of Umbergaon Taluka in Valsad district ldquoThe body was stuffed in a plastic sack tied up and the trunk was bound with rope inside the carrdquo said an LCB officerAfter scanning footage from over 300 CCTV cameras from Palghar to the neighbouring district of Valsad in Gujarat the LCB sleuthsrsquo investigation had nearly reached a dead end However the recovery of a bonnet rivet reignited their hopes prompting a thorough search of the isolated area This led them to a breakthrough uncovering the body of the missing man in the blind dumping groundThe investigationThe Superintendent of Palghar police Balasaheb Patil had formed three teamsmdashtwo from LCB and one from the Gholvad policemdashto thoroughly investigate the matter Initially the cops arrested four peoplemdashRavindra Morgha Vishal Gorat Atish Dumada and Santosh Ghinde The Gholvad police had also brought Avinash for questioning but ldquohe Avinash somehow managed to escape from the police custodyrdquo Akash the son of the deceased told middayThe damaged fastener stuck between rocksThe sleuths of LCBled by inspector Pradeep Patil and his team including API Anil Vhatkar PSIs Ganpat Sule and Sunil Nalavade and others scanned footage from more than 300 CCTV cameras to inch closer to the spot where Dhodirsquos body was dumped along with his car and the murder weapons LCB sources told midday that since Avinash was a member of the liquor mafia in Palghar he was familiar with isolated routes to evade the policerdquoldquoBut at many places he was seen driving Ashokrsquos red car and two people were spotted seated in the rear seat We kept tracking the CCTV footage and reached the Bhilad areardquo said a source ldquoThere is an isolated stone mining area in Sarigam town where our investigation had almost reached a dead end A rivet used to fasten the hood to other parts of Ashokrsquos car was recovered from the dumping spot We called in a few local resources for help and the car was removed from a 100footdeep pit in the areardquo an LCB officer saidThe broken rivetSubsequently a large team from Palghar police including Superintendent Balasaheb Patil arrived at the spot where two large cranes were brought to remove the car By this time the relatives of Ashok were also informedlsquoAccused in RajasthanrsquoSources in Palghar police told midday that one team has been sent to Rajasthan where the absconding accomplices of Avinash the prime suspect are believed to be hiding ldquoThis is the handiwork of Avinash and his gang members To date four of the seven accused have been arrested and efforts are underway to arrest three othersrdquo said a senior officer in Palghar policeSpeaking about the reason behind the murder the officer said ldquoThis can be confirmed only after we arrest the prime suspect who is the younger brother of the deceased But during primary investigations we learnt that the deceased had been making complaints against his brother who is involved with the liquor mafia An existing land dispute could be one of the reasons behind the murderrdquo