Nerul Jetty murder: Body of suspect boyfriend found in creek 2.5 km away

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai police on Friday recovered the body of a 20-year-old man who had gone missing two days ago after allegedly strangling his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend to death at the Nerul Jetty. The body was found floating at the Diwale creek in Belapur – around 2.5 km from the spot of incident – on Friday morning.
A local fisherman had reported seeing the man jumping into the lake after strangling the woman. Police had conducted extensive search along with the fire department and local fishermen but had failed to locate the body.
After the body surfaced on Friday morning, police sent it to Vashi municipal hospital for post-mortem.
On August 7, both Swastik Patil (20) and Bhavika More (19) were seen in CCTV footage travelling towards the jetty on a bike. The bike belonged to a friend of Patil. Police investigation revealed that the young man and the woman were in a relationship for two years but had broken up two months back.
“Even though they had broken off, it appeared that the man continued to contact her. A few days before the murder, they had met and had ended up fighting. The meeting on August 7, too, escalated into a major argument and the man strangled the woman. The reason for the fight is unknown and is under investigation,” said a police officer.
The girl was studying at a junior college in Nerul and was a resident of Seawoods whereas the man was working at a medical store in Panvel and was a resident of Uran village. The couple had met on social media.