Navi Mumbai developer denied bail in builder Sunil Lahoria murder case

A local court has rejected the bail plea of a Navi Mumbai-based realty developer, who has been arrested in connection with the murder of builder Sunil Lahoria in February this year.

Additional Sessions Judge UD Shukla, who heard the bail plea of the developer, Sumit Bacchevar, rejected his application on ground that charges against him were serious.

This was not the right time to entertain the bail plea. Moreover, some of the accused named in the FIR were still at large, the court observed on Friday.

Lahoria was shot dead by two gunmen outside his office in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, on February 16.

Mumbai Crime Branch, which probed the case, filed its charge sheet in the Sessions Court in Thane last month. The 1,800- page document has named eight accused, including alleged shooters Venkatesh Shettiar and Wajid Qureshi, Bacchewar and former "encounter specialist" Emmanuel Amolik, all arrested.

Three others, all builders, were shown as accused who are on the run.

Business rivalry is suspected to have led to the broad daylight murder, which was caught on camera.