Builder dies after being shot, stabbed and hit with coconut in Vashi

A builder was shot dead at point blank range by two assailants on motorcycles outside his office in Sector 28, Vashi, on Saturday morning. He died after being shot multiple times, then  stabbed repeatedly and finally hit on the head with a coconut. The entire attack was captured on CCTV cameras installed outside the builder’s office.

According to investigators, Sunil Kumar Loharia, 50, a resident of sector 18, Sanpada, came to his Vashi office in his BMW car around 8.30am. As soon as he emerged from the car, Loharia was approached by two unidentified persons waiting there, one was wearing a security guard's uniform. They were allegedly carrying a wooden stool, a coconut and some garlands with them.

“Before entering office, Loharia saw the man approaching him with a gun. He thought the man in the security guard's uniform had something to ask him. The assailant started shooting him,” said Raosaheb Sardesai, senior police inspector of the Vashi police station.

“Loharia fell down on being attacked. One assailant started hitting him with a gun, while the other attacker joined him and started stabbing him. The first one then attacked him with a coconut,” Sardesai added.

Loharia was rushed to Fortis Hospital where he died a short while later.

After the incident, the gunmen tried to flee on their bike, but a few local residents managed to nab the pillion rider.

He has been identified as Venkatesh Shettyar, 35, a real estate agent from Mumbai. He was beaten up by the locals before being handed over to the police.

Purushattam Karad, deputy commissioner of police (zone I), said, “Shettyar was severely injured after he was assaulted by the public. He was admitted to Navi Mumbai Municipal Hospital in Vashi, and later taken to the police station. We are now interrogating him to find out the motive behind the attack, and to get details of the other accused who managed to escape.”

Shettyar, a history-sheeter, was carrying a knife and an Italian-made pistol, which were recovered by the police.

Sources in the Vashi police station said Loharia had made some enemies after he obtained information on other builders’ illegal constructions though the Right to Information Act. It is suspected that he was blackmailing some builders. Twice earlier, Loharia was attacked by unidentified persons. “We are investigating various angles, and we hope to make a breakthrough within a day or two,” Karad said.