Siddharth Sanghvi was killed in Mumbai by a man called Sarfaraz Shaikh, the police said.
Highlights
- Siddharth Sanghvi was killed in a robbery attempt, police said
- Killer needed about Rs 35,000 to pay off a loan, they said
- He cornered banker in parking lot after work, stabbed him
The body of HDFC Bank vice president Siddharth Sanghvi, who went missing last week, has been found in Mumbai and the man who killed him has been arrested, the police said on Monday. The 39-year-old bank executive is suspected to have been killed in a robbery, the police say.
Sarfaraz Shaikh, a 20-year-old driver, who was arrested on Sunday, allegedly killed the executive because he needed money, Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhinash Kumar said. He was detained in Navi Mumbai and handed over to Mumbai Police, which placed him under arrest, the police said.
According to Mr Kumar, Sarfaraz had bought a motorcycle and needed about Rs 35,000 to pay off a loan. On Wednesday night, he cornered the 39-year-old bank executive after work in the parking lot of his office and demanded money. When the banking executive raised an alarm, Sarfaraz stabbed him.
Panicking, he took the body to neighbouring Thane and after dumping it, he took the banker's car to Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai and abandoned it before running away, the police said.
Mr Sanghvi's family went to the police and filed a missing report after he did not return home till late on Wednesday night.
A day later, the executive's car was found abandoned near a high-rise apartment building in Navi Mumbai, with bloodstains and a knife on the rear seat.
Two days after that his father received a call, with the caller telling him that his son was safe and he need not worry.
The police said that the call was made from Mr Sanghvi's phone from Navi Mumbai, although the SIM card was different. The police found that the phone was with Sarfaraz.
Mr Sanghvi lived in south Mumbai's affluent Malabar Hill area with his wife and eight-year-old son. A specialist in credit and market risk, he joined the bank in 2007.
His disappearance unnerved banking and corporate circles and fanned several theories, including one of murder by jealous colleagues and suspected professional rivalry.
On Monday, the police raised doubts about the theory but said that all angles will be investigated.
Shaikh has been charged with Mr Sanghvi's murder. He was produced before a Mumbai Court and sent to police custody till September 19.
(With inputs from PTI)