Elderly garbage collector allegedly kills colleague in Vasai; dies of heart attack days later

The police had initially filed an ADR

A 45-year-old garbage collector identified as Raju was allegedly beaten to death by an elderly man in Vasai on Friday (November 1), who later died of a heart attack two days after the incident on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Prakash Merwa, 75, also a garbage collector, attempted to dispose of the evidence by setting the victim's body on fire near a foot overbridge and fled the scene.

The police said that they received a call about the fire, and only after reaching the spot, they discovered the body of the victim.

The discovery of the partly burned body initially led the Vasai Government Railway Police (GRP) to register an Accidental Death Report (ADR).

Upon examining the scene and noticing suspicious blood clots, an autopsy was conducted, which revealed head injury as the cause of death, following which a case was registered and a thorough investigation was launched.

The police said that they examined CCTV footage and spoke to residents where the alleged incident took place.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Kishore Shinde (GRP) said that further probe into the matter revealed that Raju, at the time of the incident, was accompanied by other scrap collectors identified as Ankit Teniram, 25, and Babban Channa Roy, 35.

The police said that the duo were detained for investigation and revealed Merwa and Raju had a scuffle, and Raju, who was in an inebriated condition, picked up a bamboo stick to struck Merwa, but the latter snatched the stick and beat Raju to death with it before fleeing the scene.

After the police began searching for the accused following the confession from the duo, it was discovered that he had died due to a cardiac arrest on Friday under the jurisdiction of Waliv Police Station, said senior inspector Angha Satavse from Vasai government railway police (GRP).

Nov 1
Day of the incident