Mumbai:
Barely hours after Vijay Palande, the key suspect in the murder of the father of actor Anuj Tikku was arrested by Mumbai Police yesterday, he managed to escape from custody, leaving the police red-faced.
Palande managed to give the cops a slip by jumping a boundary wall of the crime branch unit in Andheri area of suburban Mumbai where he was kept. He was, however, recaptured soon after.
Palande was arrested along with the two tenants - Dhananjay Shinde and Manoj Gajkosh. Anuj was earlier detained by the police but was later given a clean chit.
Anuj's father, Arunkumar Tikku, was found murdered on the floor of his bathroom in his first floor apartment in Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai late on Saturday night. The senior citizen had six to eight stab wounds on his abdomen and a computer wire tied around his neck. His body was discovered lying in a pool of blood by a resident and a guard of the Samarth Aangan building.
According to police, the knife, which was recovered from the spot, was sent for forensic analysis for fingerprint analysis.
Sources in the police say Anuj does not have any role in his father's murder. They say that the actor seems to be a victim in the case.
Sources add that Anuj was lured by Palande to go to Goa to have a good time. The actor was mentally disturbed after divorce with his wife.
Sources say that property seems to be the sole motive behind the murder as the accused wanted to grab the victim's flat in Mumbai. A businessman based in Delhi, Mr Tikku owned three flats on the first floor of the high-rise Samartha Aangan - 3A. He would shuttle between Mumbai and Delhi, police said.
Anuj had rented out his flat to two paying guests less than a fortnight ago. The trio had gone missing since the incident took place. The victim had recently arrived in the city to take his son back to Delhi as he did not have a job.
Anuj appeared in small roles in films like
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi starring Shah Rukh Khan and in
No One Killed Jessica.