Petrol pump owner found dead in his car in Palghar district; murder case filed

Palghar, Aug 26 (PTI) The body of a petrol pump owner reported missing was found in his car abandoned on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Palghar district on Monday afternoon with police suspecting he was strangled to death, an official said.

Ramchandra Khakarani (75), a resident of Ulhasnagar in adjoining Thane district, owned a petrol pump in the Chandansar area of Palghar district and had been missing since Sunday night, he said.

According to the police, Khakarani left for home after collecting Rs 50,000 from his petrol pump manager on Sunday night. His driver, Mukesh Khubchandani (54), was accompanying him at the time. However, Khakarani never reached home, and his son’s attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.

Both Khakarani’s and Khubchandani’s mobile phones were switched off, prompting the businessman’s family to file missing person’s complaints at the Naigaon police station of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) commissionerate, they said.

On Monday afternoon, Khakarani’s body was discovered in his car found within Pelhar police station limits on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway and the police suspect he was strangled to death, said the official, adding his driver Khubchandani was still missing.

The police have sent Khakarani’s body for post-mortem examination to a government hospital and registered a case of murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the official said.

An investigation in the case was underway, he added.