Avinash Bali, one of the main eyewitnesses in the 2011 Keenan-Reuben murder case, was found dead on Monday, 20 August, in his friend, Nilesh Shukla's office in Mumbai's Andheri East. The police suspect he was murdered on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The body of Avinash Bali, also known as Avinash Solanki, was discovered by locals on Monday morning in the MIDC area (Chakala Industrial Area) of Andheri, following which the police was called.
The police told The Quint that the body showed signs of trauma, with knife injuries on his abdomen and near the private parts.
A senior police official told PTI that Bali had been missing for the last two-three days prior to the discovery of his body. Media reports also said that a missing persons complaint had been filed in this regard.
WHAT IS THE POLICE DOING?
The police suspect the involvement of two people in this case – Nilesh Shukla and another person.
“We are following all the leads and have zeroed down to two suspects at the moment,” DCP Navinchandra Reddy told The Quint.
At this point in the investigation, there doesn’t seem to be any connection with the Keenan-Reuben murder case. The main suspect is Nilesh Shukla, who was a friend of Avinash.Police sources to The Quint
He seems to have fled the state and headed north, police sources said, adding that the hunt to nab him is on.
Notably, Shukla had been booked under The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in the past by the Delhi and Mumbai police. He was arrested under these charges in 2013 but was later released on bail.
The police are also probing how closely Avinash Bali and Nilesh Shukla were associated, saying that the former had business entanglements with the latter.
AVINASH BALI'S LINK TO THE KEENAN-REUBEN MURDER CASE
Avinash Bali was one of the main eyewitnesses, as well as the complainant, in the Keenan-Reuben murder case.
On 20 October 2011, Keenan (24) and Reuben (29) were repeatedly stabbed outside an eatery at Amboli when they tried to protect their female friends from a group of men. Keenan succumbed to his injuries on the same day, while Reuben died 10 days later on 31 October.
Regarding Bali's involvement in the case, the TOI report notes that "he had stuck to his statement till the end", having completed his deposition in 2014.
All the four accused in the case were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2016 by a Special Women’s Court Judge.
The accused – Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival – were convicted on charges of murder, outraging the modesty of a woman, and other charges of the Indian Penal Code.
(With additional inputs from PTI.)
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