History-sheeter Guru Waghmare who was murdered at a spa in Mumbai had tattooed on his body the names of 22 persons who could potentially harm him, police said on Thursday as they arrested at least three suspects a day after the crime.
The name of spa owner Santosh Sherekar, one of those arrested, was among these 22 persons, said a police official. Besides him, the two alleged assailants were also arrested and two more persons were apprehended.
Waghmare (48), who claimed to be a Right to Information activist but had several criminal cases registered against him, was killed at Soft Touch Spa in central Mumbai's Worli in the early hours of Wednesday.
During the autopsy, it was found that he had inscribed the names of his potential enemies on his thighs, the official said.
Sherekar, owner of the spa, had allegedly given 'supari' or contract for killing Waghmare as he was fed up with Waghmare's extortion threats, the police official said.
He allegedly paid Rs 6 lakh to Mohammed Feroze Ansari (26) to kill Waghmare.
Ansari and Sherekar knew each other as Ansari also ran a spa at Nallasopara near Mumbai which was shut down due to a raid last year. The raid had followed Waghmare's complaint to the authorities, the official said.
Ansari approached Sherekar seeking to stop Waghmare from filing such complaints and extorting money from spa owners. Sherekar allegedly asked him to have Waghmare eliminated, the police official said.
Ansari then contacted Saquib Ansari, a Delhi resident, and the conspiracy was hatched three months ago, he said.
After conducting a recce and studying Waghmare's routine for three months, the accused planned to kill him at Sherekar's spa, the official said.
CCTV footage outside a liquor bar in Sion where Waghmare had celebrated his birthday with his 21-year-old girlfriend on Tuesday evening showed that the two assailants, wearing raincoats, were tailing him there. The duo followed Waghmare to Sherekar's spa on a scooter later that night.
Police found that one of the assailants bought two gutka packets from a paan shop near the liquor bar, paying through a UPI system. UPI record showed that his name was Mohammed Feroze Ansari.
Sherekar had received multiple calls from the phone number linked to Ansari's UPI ID, the investigation found. It established the link between the two.
Feroze and Saquib Ansari entered the spa around 1.30 am on Wednesday, took Waghmare's girlfriend to another room, and then allegedly murdered Waghmare using the separated blades of a pair of scissors costing Rs 7,000.
One of the blades was used to slit his throat, while the other was used to stab him in the stomach.
Waghmare's girlfriend claimed to have learnt about the murder only at 9.30 in the morning and informed Sherekar, who took over two hours to inform the police, the official said.
Police had already detained Sherekar for questioning, and put him under arrest after interrogation throughout the day.
Feroze Ansari was subsequently arrested by a crime branch team from suburban Nalasopara, while Saquib Ansari was picked up from Kota in Rajasthan en-route to New Delhi along with two more people who were suspected to be involved in the conspiracy, the official said.
A total of five people, thus, have been apprehended, the official said, adding that they are also probing the role of Waghmare's girlfriend.
One of the arrested accused (Saquib) was being brought to Mumbai after he was nabbed on the Garibrath Express near Kota, Rajasthan, along with two more suspects, said DCP (detection) Datta Nalawade.
Waghmare allegedly used to extort money from spa owners in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar from 2010 and had criminal cases of extortion, rape and molestation registered against him, another official said.
There were eight cognisable offences and 22 non-cognisable cases registered against Waghmare, he said.
