A special court in Thane on Tuesday remanded gangster Subhash Singh Thakur to police custody till December 22 in connection with the 2022 killing of Virar-based property developer Samay Chauhan, a case that has drawn attention for its alleged links to organised crime networks.
Thakur, who investigators believe has long-standing ties to the underworld and is described by police as a mentor to fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim, was produced before Special Judge V.G. Mohite after being brought to Maharashtra from Uttar Pradesh on a transit remand. He was arrested by the Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police from Fatehgarh Central Jail on Monday.
According to officials associated with the investigation, Thakur is accused of orchestrating the murder of 32-year-old Chauhan, who was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants in the Manvelpada area of Virar in Palghar district in February 2022. Given the alleged organised nature of the crime, the police have also invoked provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against him.
Police sources said the killing stemmed from a property dispute involving Chauhan and local builder Rahul Dubey, which allegedly escalated into a contract murder. Dubey was earlier arrested from Balia in Bihar. The shooters were identified as Manish Singh and Rahul Sharma, aged 34, while another accused, Abhishek Singh, aged 30, was arrested along with Sharma from Varanasi on March 29.
Investigators now plan to question Thakur in custody to establish his precise role in the conspiracy and to trace the wider network behind the killing. Police officials said his custodial interrogation is crucial to piecing together the sequence of events and the alleged links between the accused in the case.
