Three held for elderly man's murder

Mumbai, April 10 (IANS) Three people were arrested Tuesday in connection with the murder of senior citizen Arun Kumar Tikku, father of actor Anuj Tikku, here last week, police said.

Dhananjay Shinde, Manoj Gajkosh and Vijay Palande alias Karan Sood were arrested from different locations in Maharashtra, police said.

Police also picked up Anuj from Chiplun in Ratnagiri district for questioning in connection with the murder of Arun Kumar, 62, a Delhi-based businessman, in a flat in north Mumbai's Andheri Saturday.

The flat belonged to the victim. His son had rented it out to Shinde and Gajkosh, police said.

"We have arrested two tenants, Dhananjay Shinde and Manoj Gajkosh, staying in Anuj's flat. Anuj had leased his flat to a foreign national, Nivis Neganza, for two years," Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy told reporters.

Arun Kumar was found murdered in the bathroom of his first floor apartment with stab wounds on his abdomen and a computer cord tied around his neck.

"Anuj is divorced and lives alone. He came in contact with Karan Sood (whose real name is Vijay Palande) who convinced him to rent out the flat, which he did from March 15. But later when Arun Kumar came to Mumbai he found Dhananjay and Manoj staying in the flat," he said.

According to Roy, Palande had a crime record. He said Arun Kumar might have been murdered with an intent to posses the rented flat.

"When Arun Kumar found Dhananjay and Manoj living in the flat, he asked them to vacate it and we think he might have been murdered because of that," Roy said.

Police said the knife used to kill was recovered from the spot along with several other tools, including a saw blade.

"Anuj claims to be unaware of the murder and the motive behind it," Roy said. "We have not arrested him yet and have only detained him for questioning."