The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a man who allegedly killed his friend, a bus conductor, by offering him a soft-drink laced with potassium cyanide. The accused, Anil Sukumar Nair, was unable to repay the loan he had taken from the deceased, Bapu Anna
Rasal, and hence decided to kill him, police claimed.
Nair is a resident of Pushpa Park in Malad, while the deceased lived in Sanghvi Nagar, Mira Road. He was attached to Malwani bus depot.
According to assistant inspector Mahesh Tawre, around 12.30pm
on September 30, there was a call from the control room that said someone is lying unconscious at Ramleela Maidan in Malad. The police reached the spot and rushed the person to Bhagwati Hospital where he was declared dead before admission. The Dindoshi police had then registered a case of accidental death.
“Through our informant, we learnt that Rasal was given cyanide by his friend. We started getting details of people who used to meet Rasal. Rasal used to come from his residence on a bike and parked it at Nair’s residence. From there he used to reach the depot by bus,” said senior police inspector Firoz Patel. On the day of the incident too Rasal had met Nair.
Nair broke down after sustained interrogation. He said Rasal had given him a loan on heavy interest and was constantly asking for his money.
When Rasal came to Nair’s home to park his vehicle, the latter asked his friend to accompany him till Ramleela Maidan. “Nair bought a bottle of soft-drink, laced it with cyanide and offered it to Rasal. Rasal collapsed after drinking it, after which Nair left for Vashi,” an officer said.
