Mumbai Crime: Policewoman plotted murder of Vasai auto driver husband

Snehal Patil, the main suspect and victim’s wife. Pic/Hanif Patel

Over a week after an auto driver was found murdered in his three-wheeler in Vasai, his wife, a woman cop, has been arrested for plotting the crime. With the arrest of Snehal Patil and another person named Vishal Patil on Wednesday, five people have been taken in custody so far.

The police said the victim, Pundalik Patil, was targeted after he saw Snehal and a cop named Vikas Paste, now arrested, in an intimate position. This had triggered a fight between the couple in the presence of Paste. Snehal with batch number 513 is attached to the Palghar district police.

The police said Snehal was the main conspirator. At her bidding, Paste promised to pay Rs 2.5 lakh to his friends Swapnil Govari, 25, and Avinash Bhoir, 21, to kill Patil. The duo then roped in another person.

"On the day of the incident, the three hired Patil's auto as customers to travel to Sirsat. Later, they asked him to take them to Manor. On the way, they attacked Patil with a knife on his head and neck from behind and killed him," said a police officer from Palghar. The suspected killers then put his body in the rear seat of the auto and then overturned the vehicle.

All the five suspects were produced in a court on Wednesday which has remanded them in police custody till March 13.

The police tracked down the suspected killers after going through footage of several CCTV cameras and thousands of call records. Snehal's role became clear after the police arrested Paste, Govari and Bhoir.

Snehal's paramour Paste was attached to the Vasaigaon police station. He used to do the paperwork for an inspector. Govari works as an outsourcing agent for the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, while Bhoir is an electrician.