Vice-President of HDFC Bank killed in robbery attempt

Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS) The Mumbai Police has said the Vice-President of private lender HDFC Bank Siddharth Sanghvi was killed in a robbery attempt. His body was found on Monday from adjoining Thane, five days after he was reported missing.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Abhinash Kumar said the police have arrested a private driver, Sarfaraz Shaikh, for the murder which shook the banking and corporate circles last week.

On the late evening of September 5, Sanghvi, 37, had allegedly disappeared from the parking lot of his office in Kamala Mills Compound, and a complaint was lodged by his family soon afterward with N. M. Joshi Marg Police Station in central Mumbai.

After five days of hectic search, his body was recovered early on Monday from an isolated spot near the famed pilgrim center of Haji Malang in Thane district.

According to Kumar, the accused was in need of money and in the process of demanding money, stabbed Sanghvi when he raised the alarm.

As the victim died, the driver panicked and took his body to Thane and after dumping it, he took the vehicle to Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai and abandoned it before fleeing, police said.

Shaikh, 20, was picked up from Mumbai on Sunday and has been charged with Sanghvi's murder. He was produced before a Mumbai Court and remanded in police custody till September 19.

Police have recovered blood samples of the victim from the Mumbai parking area and also in the deserted car, which was traced on September 6, besides scanning CCTV footages from various locations.

Several theories did the rounds about the case, including one of contract killing by some jealous bankers and suspected professional rivalry as the victim had been given three promotions in barely five years which doubled his salary.