Prime accused in Malad quadruple murder held in UP

The prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of four friends in suburban Malad, Uday Phatak, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. This takes the total number of arrests in the case to nine, police said.

The victims, Ganesh Karanje, 24, Dinesh Ahire, 25, Chetan Dhule, 24, and Bharat Kundle, 27, were found with their throats slit on a hillock in Kurar village in Malad on June 6.

The four had gone missing on June 4 and their families alleged that despite alerting the police on the same day, a case of kidnapping was registered only on June 6, a few hours before the bodies were found.

"The main accused Uday Phatak, who has several criminal cases against him, was arrested in UP," a crime branch officer said. According to the police, one of the victims, Kundle, who used to work as a water purifier repairer had gone to a clinic in to collect his payment along with his friend Sachin Dhuri.

Dhuri in the meanwhile stood outside the clinic where the suspected killers, including Uday Pathak, were consuming alcohol.

The accused, who suspected that Dhuri was staring at them, threw a glass at him after a heated argument, police said. Kundle and Dhuri then returned to their locality in Kurar, gathered a few friends, went back and beat the men up.