4 minutes of readingFebruary 9, 2026 1:19 PM IST
A 65-year-old laborer’s six-month struggle to find his missing son culminated in an arrest for murder only after the Bombay High Court intervened, even as the victim’s body remains unrecovered.
Rahul Kharwar, 25, a domestic worker from Kurla, allegedly died after a friend pushed him into the Mithi river in July last year. The accused, Ankit Sahu, 20, was arrested in January after investigators found that Rahul’s mobile phone remained active for hours after his death and was used for UPI transactions.
According to the police, Rahul went missing on the night of July 24, 2025, after leaving his house following a phone call from Sahu. His father Yogendra Prasad searched all night and approached the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police, but they asked him to return the next day. Only late on July 25 was a missing person reported.
Despite repeated visits to the police station and letters sent to the Bombay Police commissioner, home minister and chief minister Yogendra said no serious effort was made to locate his son. In December, with the help of a lawyer, he filed a habeas corpus petition in the Bombay High Court.
Following the court’s intervention, the police launched a fresh investigation in January and examined Rahul’s call data records, mobile location and bank transactions. Investigators found that Rahul and Sahu’s mobile phones were at the same location on a bridge over the Mithi river between 7 pm and 7:30 pm on July 24. Technical analysis further revealed that Rahul’s phone remained active till the evening of July 25.
Police also found that Rs 10,556 was transferred through Rahul’s UPI account around 1 pm on July 25, after his alleged death.
What’s more disturbing is that my son’s phone was active for four or five hours after his murder. If it had been traced, the crime could have been discovered much sooner. Even today his body has not recovered. Yogendra told The indian express.
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A senior IPS officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said efforts were on to locate the body. “We have written to the BMC and NDRF seeking help and are checking police stations along the Mithi river and coastal areas for unclaimed bodies,” the officer said.
Rahul lived with his father in a 120 sq ft rented house in Kurla West. His mother died a decade ago. Rahul, a school dropout, had worked as a domestic worker and had changed employers a month before his disappearance. Yogendra earns around Rs 12,000 a month as a daily wage labourer.
Recounting the day Rahul went missing, Yogendra said his son had prepared dinner before receiving a call around 7 pm and leaving: “I kept calling him from 9 pm. I made almost 100 calls. The phone rang but he never answered,” he said.
He alleged that the police did not act despite repeated pleas. “I waited at the police station until 3 a.m., but no one even tried to call my son’s phone,” he said.
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During the initial investigation, Sahu told the police that Rahul had asked him for Rs 3,000 on July 24, which he refused, after which Rahul left. The police accepted his statement and let him go. He was interrogated twice but not arrested.
After the High Court ordered a detailed investigation, the police found that Sahu had earlier taken Rahul’s PhonePe password on the pretext of helping him withdraw money from the provident fund and had siphoned off Rs 29,500 without his knowledge. When confronted, Sahu allegedly sent Rahul a fake PhonePe screenshot showing a refund.
Police said Sahu later admitted that he was addicted to online games and had accumulated debts of between Rs 4 and Rs 5 lakh. Fearing exposure, he allegedly called Rahul from a friend’s phone, lured him to the bridge over Mithi river on the pretext of returning the money and pushed him into the river.
He then took Rahul’s phone and transferred Rs 10,556 through UPI after his death, a police officer said.
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On January 9, a murder case was registered and Sahu was arrested. He is currently in judicial custody.
