A Mumbai sessions court on Monday convicted two former staffers of a salon for the 2018 murder of their 28-year-old colleague, Kriti Vyas.
The accused, Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahjwani, were found guilty by Additional Sessions Judge M G Deshpande on charges under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) along with other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The hearing on the quantum of punishment is scheduled for Tuesday.
Tamhankar and Sahjwani, who held positions as account executive and account manager respectively at a salon chain in suburban Andheri, used to be under the supervision of Vyas, the finance manager.
Background of the Case
Vyas was purportedly murdered because she had issued a memo to one of the accused for inadequate performance.
The victim’s remains have not been discovered.
Investigation and Discovery
The police cracked the case following a DNA test conducted on blood samples recovered from the car belonging to one of the accused. Allegedly, this vehicle was utilized in the commission of the crime, as per their statements. Vyas vanished on March 16, 2018, prompting her family to scrutinize CCTV footage from Grant Road and Mumbai Central railway stations in their search, before eventually filing a missing person’s report at DB Marg police station.
According to the family’s account to the police, Vyas habitually boarded the 9:11 am Virar-bound suburban train from Grant Road to reach the salon in Andheri. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch, leading to the apprehension of the two suspects.