Pranav Patel, the man who masterminded the abduction and murder of 16-year old Shaktisinh Jhala, was apparently the most intelligent of the group of plotters.
Pranav Patel, the man who masterminded the abduction and murder of 16-year old Shaktisinh Jhala, was apparently the most intelligent of the group of plotters. He was pursuing his MA.
Officials said that Patel's father deals in scrap and is based in Sanand.
The entire abduction turned out to be ill-planned. Cops believe that the accused made several plans to abduct Jhala. Range IG, Ahmedabad rural, Ashish Bhatia said, "It seems that the entire operation was ill-planned. Initially, they felt that Jhala should be taken in a car, and then they thought that it would be better if they roamed around with him for three to four days, to avoid suspicion. They also went to look for a house in Dholka two days before the abduction, to confine Jhala."
Their plans, though, did not work out and the entire operation went haywire. After Sunil Patel convinced Jhala to go to Goraj village with him, he left him at the house there after which Asif Mir, Pranav and Dilawar Mir arrived. As soon as they came, they confined Jhala after which Sunil left.
With many theories to the murder, the officials are looking into the most plausible one. Police officials believe that the murder might have been committed because Jhala had a fist fight with the accused.
A senior official said, "It appears that Jhala managed to untie himself and even took out his mobile to call his father. The accused resisted the move and then killed him." In fact, Jhala was murdered four hours after he was abducted, sources said. A ransom call was made the next day from a PCO in Lal Darwaja. "The accused thought that if a ransom call was made, the parents would hand over the money," an official said. The caller, suspected to be either Asif or Pranav, was not clear while speaking over the phone. Talking in Gujarati and at times in Hindi, he did not even specify where Jhala's grandfather would have to hand over the money.
The Superintendent of Police, rural, Sandeep Singh told DNA that the investigation has been handed over to the Local Crime Branch (LCB). He added that Jhala's bike, the knife used to kill him and his shirt which the accused had hidden, have all been recovered.
Sources told DNA that attempts were made to wipe off blood stains on the spot using Jhala's shirt, and the accused also tried to remove the fingerprints on the spot.
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