Contract Killing and then a miscalculation leading to a second death - these were what tied an abandoned car found near Mumbai and two missing property dealers, the Maharashtra Police have found. The men in question - property dealers Aamir Khanzada and Sumit Jain - have been missing since August 21. But the police had no clue till the Baleno car was found near Mumbai Pune Expressway two days later.
Deepak Sakore, a senior police officer of Navi Mumbai, said the they found bullet marks, two empty cartridges and blood inside the car.
The breakthrough came when they arrested Vitthal Nakade, who was linked to the contract killer.
Mr Sakore said Vitthal Nakade was a friend of Sumit. Amir Khanzada and Sumit Jain, the police found, were friends and business partners who had fallen out over a land deal. Both were residents of Nerul and were missing since the night of August 21.
"Recently, Sumit Jain, who had incurred massive debts, usurped a plot of land through fraud. Aamir was blackmailing him to get a share. So Sumit hired a contract killer to kill Aamir," he said. It appeared that the entire planning was done by Sumit Jain and Vitthal Nakade in a day or two. The contract killer was given Rs. 50 lakh, the police were told by Nakade.
But then came the big twist. Instead of the body of Aamir Khanzada, the police found the body of Sumit Jain. The big question then became who killed Sumit and the whereabouts of Aamir.
The next big revelation came when the police arrested a few more men connected to Vitthal Nakade.
"On the night of August 21, at 11 pm, Sumit Jain and Vitthal Nakhade had got Aamir Khanzada in the car. They shot Aamir and disposed of his body. Then Sumit got himself shot in the leg - the plan was to make himself incapacitated, so he stays out of suspicion," said Mr Sakore.
What marred the script was an unexpected fight between the two killers. Sumit, unable to get medical help in time, died of excessive bleeding. Nakhade disposed of his body too.
Amir Khanzada's body was found near Karnala Bird Sanctuary. Sumit Jain's body was dumped by the roadside on Pen-Khopoli Road.