Man who killed couple in Thane, arrested

The Thane Rural Police on Sunday evening arrested 25-year-old Siddharth Narvade for allegedly killing a 28-year-old man and raping the latter's girlfriend in Thane on 5 March, 2018. Investigation revealed that a similar act of crime was was committed on July 26, 2017 at Shivajinagar in Thane, which led to Narvade's arrest.

On the evening of 5 March, Narvade held the couple at gunpoint and demanded that Dinkar handover his bike and girlfriend. "Its a hilly area with a small Mahadev mandir where couples often frequent for privacy. Narvade would sit at the top and keep a watch on couples and would strike them at an opportune moment," said senior police inspector, Venkat Andhale, Thane rural-crime.

When Dinkar did not pay heed to Narvade's threat, the latter fired an empty round followed by a second round at Dinkar, who fell on the ground. Narvade took the bike keys and dragged Dinkar's girlfriend into the bushes and raped her. The villagers, upon hearing the shocked girl's cries, alerted the Titwala Police, who, based on the description provided by the girl, made a sketch of the accused. "Based on the sketch and the victim's identification of the accused, we laid a trap and arrested Narvade from a guest house, which he had rented for Rs 100 a day," said the police official.

Narvade was arrested under sections 302 (murder), 397 (robbery) and 376 (rape) of the IPC and was produced in court on Monday.