Hardik Shah, a 27-year-old man, was arrested for the murder of Megha Dhansingh Torvi, his 35-year-old live-in partner, in their leased residence in Nala Sopara (East), Mumbai. The accused, along with his live-in girlfriend, allegedly resided in Sita Sadan Society for the previous two months while pretending to be married. The accused, according to reports, is the son of a diamond merchant from Malad.
The tragedy happened on Sunday, February 12, after an argument between the couple, during which Shah strangled Megha to death. Having no funds even for a train journey, Shah sold furniture and utensils for Rs 4,500 on Sunday, used it to purchase a rail ticket to Rajasthan and fled the next day, after disposing of the body in the bed’s cavity. While Torvi worked as a nurse, Shah was unemployed.
Senior Inspector Shailendra Nagarkar from Tulinj police said, “He ended up killing Torvi on Saturday. He, however, did not have the money to purchase a train ticket to Rajasthan. He decided to sell articles present in the house at Sita Sadan to a scrap dealer and kept Torvi’s body in the bed storage. The scrap dealer came to the house on Sunday and paid him Rs 4,500 for the articles he bought, unaware that the only bed that was not up for sale had a body inside.”
The situation was discovered, according to the police, when real estate broker Sanjeev Thakur contacted them after getting a call from Megha’s aunt in Karnataka on Monday. She informed Thakur that Hardik had called and accused her of killing Megha while threatening to end his life. When Thakur arrived at the apartment, it was locked from the outside. There was a bad odour coming from the unit and Hardik’s cell phone was unreachable.
Thakur said that the couple took the apartment on rent about three weeks ago by introducing themselves as a married couple. The neighbours had already begun to complain about the house’s unpleasant scent when the cops arrived at the scene.
Police forced open the door and discovered that furnitures in the house were missing. The nauseating stench in the bedroom drew them to the bed. The body was discovered inside the bed and its neck bore signs of strangling.
Police started to search for Hardik and found that he was travelling by Paschim Express. He was arrested from Nagda railway junction in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday with the help of Railway authorities. The Railway Protection Force assisted the local police in nabbing Shah.
He was brought to Mumbai by a Tulinj police team, who then arrested him on Wednesday. He was remanded to police custody by a city court until February 21. Nagarkar said he was unsure of how the couple had met. He said, “We will talk to their friends and family.”
Talking about the perpetrator’s background, Senior Inspector Shailendra Nagarkar stated that Shah dropped out of school after failing to pass Class X. He was kicked out of the house by his father a few years ago after he stole cash and expensive items from their home. “However, when he did not have anywhere to go during the Covid-19 pandemic, his father took him back. But then Shah started harassing his parents again as per their statement,” he added.
“We have registered a case of murder and have begun scanning through the CCTVs of the area and Shah’s mobile phone location. We have found out that he had boarded a train to Rajasthan from Mumbai Central railway station on Monday morning,” Nagarkar informed. The police officer added that they had caught Shah at Madhya Pradesh’s, Nagda train station after intercepting him with the aid of the Railway Police Force.
Shah admitted to killing his girlfriend to the police, saying it was a result of their regular arguments about money.
