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Shocking details emerge in photojournalist Prasad Mandavkar's murder

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A day after the crime branch arrested three people in connection with the murder of a photojournalist from Mumbai Central, more ghastly details of the crime have emerged. The plot to kill the 23-year-old lensman was so gruesome that one of the accomplices of prime accused, Sameer Rohikar, had chickened out in the nick of time, said the police.

Prasad Mandavkar was found with deep stab wounds in the intervening night of January 7 and 8 near Chheda Nagar on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. He was declared dead at Rajawadi Hospital.

While the Tilak Nagar police and the crime branch had initiated parallel probe, the unit III of the latter got the first lead and nabbed three men – Rohikar, 33, Rohit Bangera, 19, and George Fernandes, 34. Rohikar, a driver by profession, was apparently upset at Mandavkar's growing proximity with a woman with whom he had an affair.

On January 7, Rohikar had called Mandavkar to meet him at Mahalaxmi. He made him sit in his car and offered a drink laced with sedative to Mandavkar. He then picked up Fernandes and Bangera – he had got friends with the duo as all of them were regulars at a food joint. Mandavkar was in a semi-conscious at the time.

"When the car reached S-bridge at Byculla, Bangera and Fernandes pinned down Mandavkar. Rohikar then injected a poisonous substance into his neck," said a crime branch officer.

While injecting the chemical, some of the toxic liquid spilled onto the hands of Bangera and Fernandes, triggering a burning sensation. The trio parked the car somewhere in Sion, and Bangera went out to get something from a shop to lower the burning sensation. However, by that time, Fernandes was so petrified of the goings on in the that he fled from the spot, the officer said.

Rohikar and Bangera continued their journey and abandoned Mandavkar at an isolated place near Chheda Nagar and parked the vehicle some distance ahead. "Rohikar made Bangera sit in the car and then took out a knife from car's duct. He went towards Mandavkar and stabbed him across the body. While driving back Rohikar threw away Mandavkar's mobile phone and the syringe on the road."

Apart from car used in the crime and clothes worn by Rohikar on the day of the incident from his home, the police have also seized mobile phones, three sim cards, three memory cards, one damaged data card, a driving license and debit card from the trio.

The police are yet to recover the weapon used to stab Mandavkar and the syringe used in the crime.

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