Partially Decomposed Body Found on Riverbanks in Maharashtra’s Palghar District

Earlier this month, authorities discovered a partially decomposed body of a man on the riverbanks in Mokhada, a town located in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The man, whose face and body had undergone partial decomposition, was found wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, and a scarf around his neck. Notably, the body bore several tattoos, including ‘Rana Rajput’ in the Devanagari script, ‘Aai Baba’ in Marathi, and the letters ‘S.D.’ inside a heart on his arms, as well as ‘Tamanna’ in Marathi near his thumb.

The Palghar police, hoping to quickly identify the deceased individual, circulated photos of the tattoos in Palghar and neighboring districts. However, their efforts proved fruitless. Assistant Police Inspector Pradeep Gite of the Palghar Crime Branch explained, “Since there was no missing complaint, we faced difficulties in identifying him.”

At a dead end with no new leads, investigators recalled observing cut marks on the man’s wrists. This led them to speculate that he may have been a drug addict who had been arrested in a narcotics case. To confirm their theory, they obtained his fingerprints and sent them to the fingerprint bureau. With access to fingerprints of all arrested individuals nationwide, the bureau successfully identified the man as Dipak Mansingh Thoke, a 25-year-old resident of Ulhasnagar. Gite stated, “Thoke had been arrested by the Kalyan GRP (Government Railway Police), and since it is mandatory to record fingerprints of all arrested persons, it helped us identify him.”

Identifying the deceased individual is a crucial step in investigations, as it marks significant progress. “Once that is done, 90 percent of our work is complete,” emphasized one investigator.

Thoke’s Arrest and Unraveling of the Crime

Thoke had recently been arrested by the Kalyan GRP for assaulting Saikumar Kadamachi, 22, and Kishore Jitendra Shetye, 29, residents of Titwala and Kalyan respectively, at the railway station. Following Thoke’s identification, a Palghar police team visited the homes of the assault victims and brought them in for questioning. The police officials deceived them into believing that they were suspects in Thoke’s death, leading to their confession and the revelation of their accomplice, Pentayya Janglya Chittari.

According to the three accused, they were involved in selling water bottles at railway stations. Thoke was part of their group, but due to his addiction to alcohol and drugs, he extorted money from Kadamachi and Shetye in exchange for allowing them to work at the railway station. This arrangement involved collecting “hafta” or protection money on a monthly basis. A fight between Thoke and the victims had occurred months before the murder, resulting in Thoke assaulting Kadamachi and Shetye. The victims reported the incident to the Kalyan GRP, leading to Thoke’s initial arrest.

After being released on bail, Thoke resumed threatening the victims. On February 1, Thoke visited Kadamachi’s house in Titwala, demanding money and subsequently offering him alcohol. Kadamachi and Shetye joined Thoke in drinking, which eventually escalated into a brutal assault using a pipe. After rendering Thoke unconscious, the assailants transported him in Chittari’s car to Kasara Ghat. At approximately 1 am on February 2, they stopped the vehicle in the Karegaon area of the ghat, where they stabbed him multiple times, smashed his head with a stone, and disposed of his body by throwing it from a height of 125 feet into the Vaitarna river.

Believing they had successfully committed the crime without detection, the accused did not anticipate the police identifying Thoke through his arrest records with the Kalyan GRP.

Gite mentioned, “Later, we discovered that Thoke’s relatives had seen pictures of his tattoos but had not paid attention, assuming that Thoke was still alive.”