HDFC VP's death due to theft attempt, not by office rivals: Police

The Mumbai Police said on Monday that the Vice-President of HDFC Bank Siddharth Sanghvi was killed in a robbery attempt and not by any contract killer as was suspected by some.

His body was found on Monday from adjoining Thane, five days after he went missing.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhinash Kumar said the police have arrested a private driver, Sarfaraz Shaikh, for the murder which shook the banking and corporate circles last week.

Sanghvi, 37, had allegedly disappeared on September 5 from the parking lot of his office in Kamala Mills Compound, and a complaint was lodged by his family soon afterwards with N. M. Joshi Marg Police Station in central Mumbai. Sanghvi lived with his wife and eight-year-old son in Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.

After five days of hectic search, his body was recovered early Monday from an isolated spot near the famed pilgrim centre of Haji Malang in Thane district.

According to Kumar, the accused tried to rob Sanghvi of his money but stabbed the banker when he raised an alarm, PTI reported.

After Sanghvi died, the driver panicked and took his body to Thane where he dumped it. He then drove the victim’s car to Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai and abandoned it before fleeing, police said.

Shaikh, 20, was picked up from Mumbai on Sunday and has been charged with Sanghvi’s murder. He was produced before a Mumbai Court and remanding in police custody till September 19.

Police have recovered blood samples of the victim from the Mumbai parking area and also in the deserted car, which was traced on September 6.