Panvel railway cop’s murder: Wife, lover among four arrested

NAVI MUMBAI: Five days after a Panvel railway police constable, Vijay Chavan (42), was strangled and thrown in front of a running train between Rabale and Ghansoli stations, Vashi Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested four suspects, including the deceased's wife Pooja.

GRP officials claimed that Pooja and her lover, Dhule resident Bhushan Brahmane (29), planned and executed Vijay's murder along with their aides Prakash Chavan (23) from Uran and Pravin Panpatil (21) from Dhule.

Manoj Patil, GRP deputy commissioner of police (central zone), said on Dec 31, the four accused consumed alcohol in Chavan's vehicle in Ghansoli. Later, Brahmane and Panpatil went to Vijay's residence nearby. They allegedly strangled him to death, dragged his body to the tracks along the Rabale-Ghansoli route, and flung it in front of a moving train to make it look like a suicide case.

However, the motorman's statement played a crucial role as he told police that he saw two men throw the victim in front of his train. Thereafter, Vijay's post-mortem examination report showed that he was strangled to death.