A divorce notice, frequent marital disputes and suspicion over constant phone conversations allegedly pushed a dairy owner to hatch a murder conspiracy that ended in the brutal killing of a 40-year-old loan agent in Gittikhadan area, police said, after arresting two men from Ganeshpeth area on Monday. The Crime Branch arrested Umang Chandrashekhar Dadwe (44), owner of Vasant Dairy in Ganeshpeth and resident near Pahadwale Mata Mandir, Ganeshpeth, along with his alleged accomplice Sandesh Bhosle (31), also from Ganeshpeth. The victim, Ajay Kishorilal Shriwas, who lived at Gorkhede Complex in Gittikhadan, was found murdered inside his rented flat between 3 pm and 3.30 pm on Saturday. According to investigators, the motive behind the murder was rooted in long-standing tension inside Dadwe’s family.

 

Police said Dadwe suspected that his wife was in regular contact with Shriwas, who was reportedly her childhood friend. “During investigation, we found that the woman and the deceased had been in touch for several years and were speaking frequently over the phone,” a Crime Branch officer said. Police said Dadwe had objected to the conversations multiple times and had even confronted both his wife and Shriwas in 2018. However, the situation worsened in 2025 when he allegedly discovered that his wife was secretly using two additional SIM cards. Police claimed that during the heated argument, Dadwe allegedly snatched away his wife’s phone and warned her not to use any mobile phone again. Dadwe suspected that the SIM cards were being used to speak not only with Shriwas but also with some other men. “This became a major source of conflict in the family. There were repeated fights between the couple over mobile phone usage and suspected relationships,” an officer involved in the probe said. The tension at home reportedly peaked on April 29, 2026, during the birthday celebration of the couple’s son. According to police, Dadwe, who was allegedly short-tempered, slapped his son during the function.

 

His action triggered another serious fight between husband and wife. Soon after the incident, his wife left the house and began staying at her maternal home, located barely 50 metres away. A police complaint was also registered against Dadwe at Ganeshpeth Police Station. Investigators said the relationship completely broke down after that. Within days, Dadwe received a divorce notice from his wife. “After getting the divorce notice, he became more disturbed. He believed that his wife wanted to separate from him so she could continue her relationship with Shriwas freely,” a senior officer said. Police believe that suspicion eventually turned into a murder conspiracy. According to investigators, Dadwe then approached Sandesh Bhosle and the two allegedly began planning Shriwas’s murder. Initially, they were unable to trace Shriwas’s residence. However, after learning about the death of Shriwas’s mother, the accused allegedly went to the crematorium and quietly followed him from there to identify his house in Gittikhadan. “Once they confirmed the location, they conducted recce of his movements at least three times using a Swift Dzire car owned by Bhosle,” police said.

 

On Saturday afternoon, the alleged plan was carried out. Police said Dadwe and Bhosle reached Shriwas’s rented flat and attacked him with a sharp weapon and killed him on the spot. What shocked investigators further was the behaviour of the accused after the crime. “After committing the murder, they returned home normally. Dadwe took a bath, had food and later left for Paoni, where he owns a milk plant,” an officer said. Police said he later hid in a hotel, believing he could avoid arrest. Acting on a tip-off and using technical surveillance, Crime Branch teams tracked both accused and arrested them on Monday. Police are now working to recover the weapon used in the murder and gather more evidence related to the alleged conspiracy. Under the guidance of DCP Detection Rahul Maknikar, ACP Dr Abhijeet Patil, the arrest was made by Unit 2 Sr PI Shubhangi Deshmukh and her team.