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POLICE ON Sunday arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly killing a 54-year-old taxi driver. The incident took place early in the morning at Dadar market after the accused, who was under the influence of alcohol, smashed the driver’s face using three paver blocks, police said. They added that the driver refused to give the accused a ride claiming that his home was only a short distance away.
Police identified the accused as Basavaraj Melinamani, who originally hails from Vijaynagar in Karnataka and was residing in Ambedkar Nagar on Senapati Bapat Marg in Dadar.
An officer said, “Melinamani claims that he consumed alcohol somewhere in the market, after which he went to the taxi driver asking him to drop him home.”
As it was a short distance away, the taxi driver, identified as Chhabiraj Jaiswar, refused to give him a ride, the officer added.
According to police, following this, the accused and the driver got into a heated argument. The accused told police that the driver even abused him.
“During the fight, the taxi driver fell on the footpath; the accused picked up three paver blocks and smashed them against his face,” said an investigator.
Police said Melinamani then fled from the spot. At around 6.15 am, one of the local residents informed the police control room, which then forwarded the information to Dadar police station.
A police team went to the spot and rushed the taxi driver to Sion hospital, where he was declared dead before admission.
Subsequently, police registered a case of murder.
Police, during the course of the investigation, checked CCTV footage from cameras installed in a temple and some shops at Dadar market. “In the CCTV footage, we could see that the (suspect) was thin and wearing a yellow-coloured shirt,” an officer said.
In an attempt to identify him, police started showing the CCTV grabs of the suspect to local residents and learnt that Melinamani was around 200 m from the spot.
“He looked similar to the person we saw in the CCTV footage and he was wearing the same shirt. So we took him in custody and he confessed to the crime,” another officer said.
Police said the accused was placed under arrest around 3.30 pm. “We are checking his history, whether he has cases registered against him. But, so far, we have learnt that the accused is a labourer and has worked for different vendors at markets in Dadar and Worli,” said an officer.
Police added that Jaiswar stayed in Mankhurd with his family. Melinamani will be produced before the court on Monday.
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