Dahanu murder case: Main accused held after 5 months; 3 accused still absconding

PALGHAR: The Palghar crime branch and the cops of Gholwad police station arrested Avinash Dhodi, who kidnapped and murdered his elder brother Ashok Dhodi on January 19, from Dahanu.

More than 50 cops scanned five states and hundreds of CCTVs while relying on human and technical intelligence to nab Avinash early on Sunday morning. He was found hiding in Silvassa. Out of the nine accused, five were arrested in January and February. Avinash was arrested today, and three more accused are on the run. Arresting Avinash was an important task as he was the main accused, who allegedly planned and executed this operation.

Ashok Dhodi was a Shiv Sena leader from Dahanu and Talasari in Palghar district.After kidnapping Ashok Dhodi on the evening of January 19 from Vevaji in Dahanu, while he was on his way home, they allegedly killed him and dumped his body in his car's boot, disposing of it in a quarry filled with water in Umargaon, Valsad (Gujarat). It was later retrieved after cops found vital clues about the possibility of the car being dumped several feet down in the water.

Early in February, the cops also seized their getaway vehicle from a remote village in Rajasthan. It was reported that after dumping Ashok's body, a couple of accused used this car to flee the spot. However, after this, there was no major success for the cops, and it was only a scan and search operation.Cops confirmed that there was an ongoing family dispute between the two brothers. It was also confirmed that Ashok was against his younger brother Avinash's illicit liquor business and other illegal activities, which he always legally escalated, causing financial loss to Avinash.

The cops will now get a chance to interrogate Avinash and understand the reasons for allegedly kidnapping and murdering his elder brother.Akash Dhodi, son of the deceased Ashok Dhodi, said that he met Palghar Superintendent of Police (SP) Yatish Deshmukh with his family, and he assured them that the accused would be nabbed soon. We are happy that he kept his word. SP Yatish Deshmukh said, "This was an ongoing search operation with a lot of cops involved and working round-the-clock. We got his confirmed location based on technical and human intelligence and accordingly nabbed him. He will be produced in court, and we shall seek police remand to investigate further," he added.