Kerala man planned his own murder, and then killed himself

The police get a call from Kamla Lodge in Chembur about a room being locked from inside with the occupant not responding IllustrationsRavi JadhavThe Chembur police have cracked the lsquomurderrsquo case of a Kerala jeweller after a weekslong probe They have found out that the deceased actually killed himself on being unable to pay off his mounting debt but tried to make it look like a murder to ensure his family got the insurance moneyOfficers arrive there and break open the door to find a man hanging with his wrists slitThe police said the deceased identified as S Sathish and hailing from Thrissur had first made attempts to rob other merchants for money but when all that failed he grew frustrated and decided to end his life Sathish used to visit Mumbai to sell gold ornamentsInvestigations reveal that S Sathish who had decided to commit suicide had hatched a plan with goons in Tamil Nadu to make it look like a murderLongwinding caseOn January 15 the police got a call from Kamla Lodge in Chembur saying a room was locked from the inside Officers arrived and broke down the door to find a man in his 40s hanging from the ceiling fan with his wrists slit The deceased who had arrived on January 11 was identified and a murder case was filedOfficers say Sathish and one person returned to Mumbai where Sathish killed himself by slitting his wrist and the other hung him and fled with valuablesWhen the police checked the CCTV footage of January 11 they found a man walking behind Sathish as he checked in and then leaving the room in a hurry a while laterOn January 11 when Sathish had come to Mumbai from Coimbatore he was carrying 45 kg gold ornaments His family told the police that a business associate of his Martin Antony Swami Durairaj 37 was supposed to accompany him to Mumbai but had cancelled at the last minuteAssistant inspector Sachin Kadam and his team went to Coimbatore and scanned footage of CCTVs at the hotel Sathish had stayed at It showed a person boarding the bus to Mumbai with Sathish Meanwhile the police detained Durairaj and when he failed to give any satisfactory reason for cancelling his trip they arrested him on January 19 and brought him to MumbaiStartling revelationsDuring interrogation Martin said Sathish was in heavy debt and disturbed He also said Sathish had wanted to commit suicide to finish everything but before that he had made a few lastditch efforts to get money by hiring local goons to rob a gold merchant in Coimbatore Those attempts failed mounting his debt further Martin addedHe also revealed that Sathish and two others had been arrested in December in Mutthupetai for the robbery attempts While Sathish and one of the two had been let off after a day in custody the other was still behind bars The police found out that the one in lockup was Sarvanana 25 a smalltime criminal in Tamil Nadu who Sathish had hiredOn January 21 inspector Jaywant Sakpal reached Mutthupetai and questioned Sarvanana who identified the other let off as Mohammed Riyaz 32 another smalltime thug who was the one who had accompanied Sathish to Mumbai The team arrested Riyaz from Trichy And it was his revelation that brought to light the whole twisted storyDial M forThe police said Sathish had told Riyaz to accompany him to Mumbai and take away his money and gold after he killed himself to make it look like a murder committed for valuables ldquoTempted Riyaz came to the lodge but when he saw Sathish slitting his wrist he got scaredrdquo said deputy commissioner of police zone VI Shahaji UmapldquoHe managed to hang Sathish from the fan and then flee with Rs 45 lakh and three mobile phonesrdquoMartin Sarvanana and Riyaz are all in custody of the Chembur police