Three men were arrested on Monday, 3 February, for killing their 25-year-old rival and setting the body on fire in Nagpur, police said.
Monesh Bhagwat Thakre, a resident of Shiv Nagar in Pardi, went missing in 2019, they said.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nilesh Bharne said the police arrested Akshay Gajanan Yeole (25), Nilesh Dayanand Agre (19), Amol alias Vickey Shrichand Hirapure (25), all residents of Bhavani Nagar in Pardi.
Another accused, Soham Birsingh Biloria (30), a resident of Bhavani Nagar, is absconding, the officer said.
According to Bharne, when Akshay was in the jail in connection with an attempt to murder case last year, Agre informed him that Thakre's friend Vinod Wagh had threatened him.
Akshay vowed to take revenge and soon after he was released, the accused started searching for Vinod in order to kill him, the officer said.
One day, Akshay and Agre saw Thakre drinking at a bar and the victim joined them at their request. The two then took Thakre to dilapidated house in Bhavani area and stabbed him with sharp-weapons.
Akshay called Hirapure for help and they took the body behind bushes and set it on fire. The next day, the accused again visited the spot and gathered the bones which they wrapped in a saree.
They travelled to Jamtha area in a car and threw the remains near a nullah, the officer said.
When Thakre did not return home, his father Bhagwat Thakre lodged a missing complaint with Pardi police.
During investigation, the police seized CCTV footage from the bar in which the accused were seen consuming liquor with the victim, he said.
The accused were interrogated by Pardi police and Crime Branch more than four times, but they did not confess. The policemen then worked out a strategy and interrogated Agre separately and he spilled the beans, Bharne said.
The additional commissioner of police said that Thakre's remains were sent to a forensic lab and the accused were booked under various sections of of Indian Penal Code.
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