Mumbai Chainsaw Repairman Recalls Chilling Meet With Murder Accused

On June 4, the day 32-year-old Saraswati Vaidya is suspected to have been murdered by her husband Manoj Sane, 56, near Mumbai, the accused had gone to a shop to get a tree-cutting chainsaw repaired. The same chainsaw was allegedly used to chop up Saraswati's body.

NDTV spoke to the owner of Karthika Enterprises in Borivali, who said that the chainsaw's chain had slipped and Sane had visited his shop to get it repaired on June 4. 

Asked how Sane's demeanour was when he was at the shop, the shop owner, who refused to give his name, said, "He did not look scared or anything of the sort. He was calm and waited at the shop till the repair was complete."

The shopkeeper also said that the chainsaw may have been purchased at his shop earlier, when he was away. "We do sell chainsaws like the one Sane had. There wasn't much wrong with the machine. Just the chain had slipped," he said in Hindi.  The shop owner said he had spotted no marks on the chainsaw while repairing it. 

Asked how he felt now that he knew what the chainsaw was used for, the shopkeeper said he was worried about himself, since he would now have to go to the court as a witness whenever summoned. 

The chopped up parts of Saraswati's body were found at the couple's rented apartment in Mira Road on Wednesday after neighbours alerted the police when they found a fetid stench emanating from the flat. 

Police said earlier today that Saraswati and Sane were married, but kept that fact hidden because of the difference in their ages. Saraswati would tell people that Sane was her maternal uncle and he owned a cloth mill in Mumbai.