Pune: A barcode on an empty liquor bottle that was left discarded near the body of a man (30) found bludgeoned to death in an open area near the Aundh chest hospital mortuary on Tuesday enabled the police to crack the murder case and nab two suspects on Wednesday. The two suspects had left Pune on board a private luxury bus for Nagpur, from where they were to board a train to their native place in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh. The police managed to intercept the bus near Selu Ambu toll plaza, about 350km from the city on the Samruddhi Mahamarg, and nab them.
The police identified the deceased as Pappu alias Jitendra Tripathi and the suspects as Shiv Mangal Singh (38), a courier delivery person, and Somdutta Dubey (22), a security guard. All three hail from Chitrakoot and were friends. Tripathi had arrived in Pune four days back and was staying with the duo.
"Investigations revealed that Tripathi was addicted to liquor and would harass and beat Singh and Dubey. This led the duo to kill him," Pimpri Chinchwad crime branch assistant inspector Harish Mane told TOI. "The duo has confessed to their involvement in the killing," he said.
The police barely had any clue but found a liquor bottle nearby. "We found an empty liquor bottle with a barcode near the body. Our team visited four to five liquor shops in the Navi Sangvi area and found that the bottle was purchased from one of these shops.
A scrutiny of CCTV footage at the shop showed three men, one of them the victim, buy.
