Tamhankar, who lived in Bhoiwada and has been in jail since his arrest in 2018.Vyas, a resident of Grant Road, who worked forBBlunt Salon in Andheri, went missing on March 16, 2018.
The alleged couple were arrested in connection with the murder on May 5, 2018.
A police inquiry unearthed that the duo allegedly dumped her body at Mahul.
Chimalkar added that Tamhankar and Sidhwani had 25 long calls that same night.
“...Prosecution has led cogent and convincing evidence to establish and prove its case.”
MUMBAI: Six years after 28-year-old salon executive and chartered accountant, Kirti Vyas disappeared on way to office and her body was never found, a sessions court on Tuesday sentenced her two former colleagues — Siddhesh Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court direction), to life imprisonment.On Monday, Sessions judge M G Deshpande found the duo guilty of murder , kidnapping, wrongful restraint and destruction of evidence .The judge then adjourned the matter for hearing arguments from the defence and prosecution on the quantum of sentence. While the maximum punishment is death, the minimum is life imprisonment.The trial was conducted in-camera at the behest of Sidhwani’s lawyer to protect her identity.The prosecution had said Tamhankar, 42, feared losing his job at BBlunt after being put on notice by Vyas over his poor performance at work, and about his relationship with a married Sidhwani being exposed.Santacruz resident Sidhwani (48) had got bail in Supreme Court in 2021, was taken into custody. Tamhankar, who lived in Bhoiwada and has been in jail since his arrest in 2018.Vyas, a resident of Grant Road, who worked forBBlunt Salon in Andheri, went missing on March 16, 2018. The alleged couple were arrested in connection with the murder on May 5, 2018. A police inquiry unearthed that the duo allegedly dumped her body at Mahul. Prolonged search for the body did not yield results. The prosecution alleged that they picked her up from home on the morning of March 16, 2018 in Sidhwani’s car and strangled her.Calling the crime premeditated, special public prosecutor Avdhoot Chimalkar had cited the evidence of 39 witnesses to seek a conviction, and said, while submitting the final arguments in the case, that the crime was committed on the day the deadline mentioned on the show-cause notice ended, “on which day, in all probability, his services were to be terminated”. He said, “The devilish crime was the result of wanton lust, the servility to absolutely unchained carnal desire and slavery to loathsome... passion which ruled the mindset of the accused.” He said both Tamhankar and Sidhwani’s residences as well as their workplace were far from Vyas’s home and there was no other need for them to have waited for her outside her house on March 16, 2018.The prosecution said Tamhankar had accompanied Vyas’s family when filing a missing person complaint and even joined a search for her at hospitals and railway stations. It said at none of these instances did Tamhankar reveal that he and Sidhwani had picked Vyas up from outside her house and offered to drop her to the office in a car, and that it was only after CCTV footage from Vyas’s building and the neighbourhood began to be scanned that he informed his top boss out of fear the next day. The prosecution said this was the most incriminating evidence against Tamhankar.“...when the DVDs obtained from the police control room were viewed... it was obvious that all throughout, the car was in the left-side lane and, hence, there was no question of the car having halted at any spot in between for [Vyas] to have been dropped [off],” the prosecution said.The prosecution said call data records showed that Vyas’s phone was switched off at 9.30am at Jijamata Nagar, Worli, on the fateful day and the car was in the vicinity at the same time. It was submitted that DNA from the bloodstains and hair strands recovered from the car matched that of the blood samples taken from Vyas’s parents.Chimalkar also pointed out that evidence of witnesses and call data records showed that on the night of March 15, 2018, Tamhankar was close to Vyas’s house and was on calls with Sidhwani. While one call lasted around 26 minutes, another was 16 minutes long. The prosecution said this indicated that he had gone there for a reconnaissance. Chimalkar added that Tamhankar and Sidhwani had 25 long calls that same night. “Similarly, on March 16, 2018, from 7.30am onwards, there were calls bet- ween the accused and both were outside the house of Kirti Vyas at 8.15am or so,” he said.The prosecution said just because the victim’s body could not be traced despite diligent efforts made by the investigating agency, it cannot be assumed that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. “...Prosecution has led cogent and convincing evidence to establish and prove its case.”
