Vile Parle killer just walked away

The hint of unhurried confidence is chilling. The killer in the Vile Parle double murder on Monday tied up the two elderly victims, stabbed them to death, and walked all the way to the Parleshwar temple, a mile away, without even being challenged, police investigations have revealed.

"Sniffer dogs picked up the scent till the temple, after which the culprit must have boarded a vehicle," Senior Inspector BR Jadhav of the Vile Parle (East) police station said. "The killer was confident of not being on the radar of suspects. The person has to be someone very close to the family."

Jagdish Kadam, 60, and wife Pratibha, 50, were found murdered on Monday inside their Ganesh Villa apartment at Tejpal Scheme II, Vile Parle (East). The building has no watchman and has only a placard outside prohibiting salesmen from entering the premises. While police are looking at a possible property dispute as the motive for the murder, the line of investigation is still unclear.

Jadhav said the room was strewn with bank documents. But police are still to ascertain if any documents are missing. "We will know about missing documents only when their daughter recovers from the shock," the inspector said.

Meanwhile, police sources are hinting that the cause of the Kadams' murder could be property owned by them at Ratnagiri. Deputy Commissioner of Police S Shinde said, "We are not ruling out any possibility. A conclusion cannot be drawn on the cause as of now."

Kadam had taken voluntary retirement recently and police are examining if the murder had anything to do with the money he had received. They are also checking whether he had a quarrel with someone in the catering business he started after retirement.