Nagpur: Rural police arrested two persons, Avinash Narule and Rakesh Mahajan, for their alleged role in murdering farm labourer Naresh Karudkar at a farmhouse at Mangli in Kuhi taluka, where he worked.
The cops also recovered more than Rs37 lakh from their possession, which they had allegedly stolen from the farmhouse after the murder.
The farmhouse owner, advocate Gnyaneshwar Phule, had lodged a complaint of murder with Kuhi police station, after spotting the decomposing body of Karudkar on June 20, mentioning theft of cash Rs50,000.
Police said despite knowing the exact amount stolen, Phule had understated the cash for reasons best known to him.
It was during recovery that the local crime branch team under inspector Anil Jittewar, and staff from Kuhi and Beltur police, were stunned by the amount they found unexpectedly at the residence of Mahajan at Phegadh.
Police said Narule and Karudkar were former co-workers at the same farm.
Narule, who drover a tractor, was thrown out of job for stealing fuel around a fortnight ago.
Police said he knew there was substantial cash kept at the farmhouse.
Narule, who had roped in Mahajan, was planning to settle his dues and also make some fast cash.
The duo murdered Karudkar on June 17 and his body was found only three days later, when advocate Phule and his wife went to the farmhouse.
SP Rakesh Ola, who was flanked by additional SP Rahul Maknikar and DySP SA Tele, said Narule and Mahajan had taken Rs1,500 from Karudkar to have a feast at the farmhouse and later bludgeoned and throttled him to death after he dozed off.
“The cash which Narule and Mahajan found was kept in a tin box at the residence of Mahajan, as they had gone undercover,” said the SP.
“The advocate had kept the cash at the farmhouse as he wanted to use it for marriage and other purposes like making payments to others,” he said.
Ola said it was a combination of manual and electronic evidence which helped cops zero down on the murderers.
“Karudkar had last called Narule, which was the biggest clue,” he said.
Police also said Narule had shared information with another fellow villager that there was much cash kept at the farmhouse.
The villager had leaked this information to cops, who netted him and Mahajan before they could sneak away.