Techie pays with life for breaking photo frame in Pune

Breaking a photo frame inadvertently at a bar proved too costly for a 27-year-old software engineer of Symantec in Pune. He lost his life.

Sarvanan Ramchandran was allegedly killed by three persons — two sweepers and a driver — in the early hours of January 23. The three allegedly stoned him to death and partially burnt his body.
The suspects have been identified as Rajesh Suresh Raut, 23, Sachin Subhash Shinde, 24, and Nitin Trimbak Dongare, 21— all residents of Someshwarwadi in Pashan.

Bharati Vidyapeeth police arrested the trio on Saturday. Senior police inspector Nagnath Wakode said while Raut and Dongare worked in Symantec as sweepers, Shinde was a driver in another private firm.

Sarvanan, a resident of Chennai, stayed at Dange Chowk area of the city. He had joined the company about four months ago.
The police said Sarvanan and the suspects were drinking at a bar at Parihar chowk in Aundh on the night of January 22. The three suspects were to attend a marriage the next day and had purchased a photo frame as a gift and it was wrapped in a newspaper.

“Accidentally, the glass of the photo frame broke when Sarvanan’s leg touched it. The trio got annoyed and started arguing with Sarvanan. The victim also abused the trio. Then they planned to teach the techie a lesson,” Wakode said.

Wakode said the suspects followed Sarvanan on their bikes and assaulted him with stones near Rama Point resort and tried to burn his body. The suspects then fled with his wallet.

Later, they used the victim’s debit cards to make purchases from various malls in the city.

When Sarvanan did not return to his room and stopped attending office, his roommates contacted his father in Chennai. His father came to the city on January 27 and lodged a missing person’s complaint with the Chatushrungi police station.

Next day, the police had recovered a body in the Katraj ghat section. After a few days it was confirmed that it was Sarvanan’s.

“When we started probing the case, we were clueless. But the police team nabbed the suspects on the basis of the victim’s bank records that showed some transactions made on his debit cards after the murder,” Wakode said.

After finding out the transactions, the police zeroed in on the three suspects and nabbed them.