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5 held for Bombay doc's murder

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

The Bombay police has cracked the murder case of cardiologist Dr Vasant Jayakar, with the arrest of five persons.

Dr Jayakar was gunned down last Thursday outside his clinic at Khar, in the western suburbs of Bombay. His murder, being the first such incident in the new year, had led to speculation that the underworld was behind it.

Police Commissioner Mahesh Narain Singh told the media on Tuesday that the brother of a patient who died while under treatment by Dr Jayakar was behind the murder.

"When Bali Siwani died in February 1999 while Dr Jayakar was treating him for a liver disorder, his brother, 50-year old Deepak Gopaldas Siwani believed that it was the doctor's negligence that caused the death and would threaten him often," Singh stated.

However, the doctor did not take the threats seriously.

In an elaborate gameplan, Deepak then got in touch with Ajay Kumar Gupta from Uttar Pradesh, who used to work with him and Gupta in turn got in touch with 26-year-old Dhirendra Yadav from Jaunpur, who had a criminal background. Yadav arranged for Mukesh Kumar Singh of Varanasi and Jung Bahadur Yadav of Jaunpur, who pulled the trigger on Dr Jayakar.

Deepak paid Rs 5000 to the murderer for the revolver, and another Rs 10,000 for the actual act. The police, however, did not disclose the total amount paid by Deepak for realising his evil plan.

Singh admitted that when his team began working on the case, they had little to go by. The breakthrough came from Dr Jayakar's wife, who told the police that her husband was threatened by the brother of a patient who died while under treatment. The police then found a threatening letter written by Deepak, who broke down during interrogation.

Praising officers of Unit 7 of the crime branch for cracking the case, Singh said all five have been arrested and confessed to their role in the murder.

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