Antop Hill firing: Man who shot at friend finally held
12 non-bailable warrants against accused so far; Antop Hill police to take over case
Two days after a man was shot and injured by his friend with a country-made pistol at Antop Hill, the Mumbai crime branch Unit 4 arrested the accused in Dombivali on Tuesday.
According to a police official, the accused, Vivek Chettiar, 26, allegedly retaliated by firing after his wife was reportedly abused by the victim. Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade said that during interrogation, Chettiar said that he had planned to kill two more people.
After the firing incident, Chettiar fled from the spot and went to his house in Andheri. Later, he went to Goregaon and stayed there until evening. To evade the police, Chettiar left there and went to the Thane, where he stayed for a while. From Thane he went to Panvel and after staying there for some time, he went to Dombivli. When the crime branch officers received information about Chettiar’s presence in Kolgaon, Dombivli, the cops arrested him by laying a trap.
Nalawade disclosed that history sheeter Chettiar abruptly entered the home of Akash Kadam, 30, at 5.40am on Saturday and shot him with a country-made pistol, causing serious injuries. Kadam had given Chettiar
Rs7 lakh to carry out a ‘task’, but when Chettiar failed to fulfill it, Kadam demanded his money back. When Chettiar didn’t return it, Kadam got into a heated argument with Chettiar's wife over the issue. This altercation between the two escalated over the verbal exchange regarding Chettiar’s wife, leading to the confrontation.
Chettiar fired one shot at Kadam but when he tried to fire further shots, his pistol got locked. Kadam has been admitted in an injured condition to Sion Hospital where he is undergoing treatment.
The crime branch is going to hand over Chattiar to the Antop Hill police for further investigation. The case is being investigated by the Antop Hill police who arrested Chettiar’s wife Parveen and his close friend Parag Gohil on charges of criminal conspiracy on Sunday, a day after the incident.
In 2017, Chettiar killed a man Mayur Panchal outside a hookah parlour in the Goregaon area. Chettiar was arrested for this crime. However, he was released on parole during the COVID period, but did not return to jail after the parole. After being released on parole, Chettiar committed six more crimes. This makes a total of 12 serious crimes. A total of 12 nonbailable warrants have also been issued against him.