The officer said that accused Manoj Ramesh Sane, 56, who was arrested on Thursday, has claimed that Saraswati Vaidya, 32, died by suicide on June 3.
The man accused of killing his alleged live-in partner in their flat in Geeta Nagar area of Mira Road, near Mumbai, and allegedly chopping the body into innumerable pieces, has told police during interrogation that he is HIV-positive and had never had physical relationship with Vaidya, as she was “like his daughter”, a senior police officer.
The officer said that accused Manoj Ramesh Sane, 56, who was arrested on Thursday, has claimed that Saraswati Vaidya, 32, died by suicide on June 3. Fearing that he would be booked in the case, he allegedly tried to dispose of the body, and told police that he planned to end his life thereafter, the officer said.
The officer, who visited the spot on Wednesday night, after the death came to light, said details of Sane’s claims during interrogation are being verified.
After cutting the body into small parts with an electric tree cutter, Sane allegedly boiled parts of it in a pressure cooker and roasted them on gas to dump them easily, police said. He had allegedly kept the pieces in a bucket, tub, cooker and other vessels in the kitchen, and cut them so small that police could not even count them, an officer said.
Police have invoked IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) in the FIR. “He was produced in a Thane court and has been remanded in police custody until June 16,” DCP Jayant Bajbale, zone-1, Mira-Bhayander Vasai Virar police, said.
“During preliminary inquiry, Sane told police that in 2008 he discovered that he was HIV positive,” the senior officer said. “Since then, he has been on medication. He said that he suspects he contracted the disease due to use of infected blood during his treatment a long time ago, after he had met with an accident.”
According to Sane’s confession to police, Vaidya was very possessive in nature and suspected that he was being unfaithful to her whenever he returned home late, the officer said. She was planning to appear for Class 10 SSC exams and Sane was teaching her math, the officer said, quoting from his admission during interrogation.
The officer said they found a board on one of the walls of the seventh-floor flat, with math equations scribbled on it.
Sane told police that he saw Vaidya lying on the floor of their flat on June 3 morning, froth coming out of her mouth. He checked her pulse and found her dead, he told police. Fearing action against him, Sane reportedly told police, he decided to get rid of the body.
Sane has told police that he has an Industrial Training Institute certificate but has been working at a PDS shop for 10 years as he did not get a decent job. The body parts collected from the kitchen have been sent to Sir JJ Hospital for forensic analysis, DCP Bajbale said.
Police are taking the help of medical experts and trying to ascertain which parts of the body are missing. They have seized an electric cutter. Police suspect the crime took place earlier and emerged on Wednesday, when neighbours reported foul smell from the couple’s flat. After police were informed, they broke open the door to gain entry into the flat and found the woman’s body, chopped into pieces, in the kitchen. Unaware of police presence, Sane returned home in the evening. He was nabbed as he tried to escape, an officer said.
A senior officer said when the accused was being questioned, he showed no remorse.
