Pune: A discarded SIM card tray found near a garbage heap helped Sangvi police crack the alleged murder of a man whose severed legs were found stuffed in a gunny sack in Pimple Gurav on Friday, leading to the arrest of a 44-year-old man.The incident came to light around 11am on Friday when severed human legs were found in a gunny sack near a garbage heap on Shrinagar Lane No. 3 in Pimple Gurav.Sangvi police registered a case on Saturday under sections 103(1) (murder) and 238 (causing the disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Relevant provisions of the Arms Act have also been invoked in the case.During the investigation, police analysed CCTV footage and conducted a technical examination of a SIM card cover found at the spot, which helped identify the victim as Anil Baban Khade, a daily wage worker from Pimple Gurav. It then led to the arrest of the suspect, Pintya alias Vishnu Tanaji Kumbhar (44) of Navi Sangvi.A team led by senior inspector Jitendra Koli of Sangvi police station traced details linked to the SIM card tray. “When officers visited Khade’s residence, his wife and children told them that he had not visited home for the past two years. We then asked them about his friends. They gave us a few names,” the police said.“We traced his friends. One of them told us that Khade was staying with a new friend,” the police said.Koli said, “Our team identified the new friend as Kumbhar. We reached his house, and even before entering it, we noticed a foul smell in the area. The smell was emanating from Kumbhar’s residence.”“During a search of the house, we found Khade’s torso. We shifted the torso to the hospital. We subsequently arrested Kumbhar,” he said.Police suspect that the two argued over liquor, following which Kumbhar allegedly assaulted Khade with a baseball bat, which killed him. He then allegedly used a billhook to chop off his legs, packed them in a gunny sack and dumped it near the garbage heap.
