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A 46-year-old man from Gujarat's Rajkot is on the run after he allegedly murdered his friend as part of a chilling plot to fake his death, apparently to claim an insurance payout. The shocking case unfolded after a body was found at a rundown house at Gondal in Rajkot district on Friday. Hitesh Dhanja, who lives nearby, was visiting the rundown family home where nobody stays now. There, he found a half-burnt body. Next to the body was a wallet and a phone belonging to his elder brother Hasmukh, who lived in Rajkot city.
Hitesh rushed and informed the village headman who called in the cops. Police recovered the body and sent it for autopsy. The findings added an entirely new angle. The cause of death was strangulation and not burns. Assuming that Hasmukh was killed and then his body burnt, police started a probe to identify who was behind the crime.
When the investigation revealed that Hasmukh went to meet his friend Sandeep Goswami (40), police started looking for him. They found his phone switched off and contacted his wife Gayatri. She told police that Sandeep got a call from Hasmukh on December 25 and left home soon after. She said the two were friends and had planned to visit Mumbai for a business trip to Mumbai. Gayatri said she had been trying to contact her husband, but his phone was off.
When police showed the half-burnt body to Gayatri, she said it belonged to her husband, not Hasmukh. The forensic examination confirmed this.
When police stepped up their probe and questioned people in the area where the body was found, they came to know that a minor boy was seen with Hasmukh and Sandeep. When they located the minor and questioned him, he made startling revelations. The boy said they strangled Sandeep to death at Hasmukh's rundown family home. Then they set the body on fire. Hasmukh threw his documents and belongings near the body to make it look like he was dead.
Senior police officer KG Zala said police had now registered a murder case on a complaint by Sandeep's wife Gayatri. "Sandeep Giri was murdered by Hasmukh Dhanja and a minor boy. We have taken the minor into custody and are looking for Hasmukh."
Police Inspector Vijay Aadodariya told News Agency that they had questioned Hasmukh's wife who stays in Rajkot. "She told us that he had bought an insurance policy. But Hasmukh is still on the run, so we cannot say for sure."
Inputs by Mahendra Prasad