Nagpur: In a chilling crime that has shaken the Nagpur’s sense of safety, a gruesome murder has come to light in the Jaripatka area, where the decomposed body of a local hotelier was found stuffed inside sacks and dumped beneath the Nara Ghat bridge, a discovery that reads like a script from a crime thriller, but is horrifyingly real.
The victim, Rahul Sunil Shahu (38), a resident of Zingabai Takli, ran a modest eatery named “Happy Day” at Acharaj Tower. A father of two, Shahu had stepped out on the evening of April 20, telling his staff he would “return in an hour” after collecting money. He never came back.
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Apr 23 2026 - Time 10.30Hrs
What followed was a 48-hour mystery, one that would end in a gruesome revelation.
On April 22 afternoon, locals near the Nara crematorium complained of a foul stench emanating from a sewage nullah under the bridge. When police reached the spot and opened a suspicious sack lying there, they were met with a horrifying sight, Shahu’s lifeless body, brutally mutilated, crammed into not one but two sacks, one of them bearing the label of a popular chicken brand.
The body was already decomposing. Police later confirmed that Shahu had suffered 16 stab wounds, including deep gashes on his forehead, indicating extreme brutality and possible rage behind the killing. His identity was confirmed through an “Om Sairam” tattoo on his left hand.
Investigators believe the murder was not spontaneous but cold-bloodedly premeditated. Shahu was likely killed elsewhere, his body packed into sacks, and then dumped under the bridge to destroy evidence and delay identification.
But the killers made a critical mistake.
Shahu’s scooter, found abandoned nearby, became the turning point. Within hours, police tracked down and arrested a key accused, reportedly a borrower whom Shahu had allegedly been pressuring for exorbitant interest payments.
While the initial arrest points toward a financial dispute, the case is rapidly unfolding into a complex web of motives:
• Loan Harassment Angle: The arrested suspect was allegedly under pressure from Shahu over high-interest repayments.
• Debt Trap: Shahu himself was reportedly drowning in debt after his chit fund business collapsed.
• Fraud Allegations: He had allegedly taken Rs 8 lakh from a woman in Saoner taluka on the false promise of a job, a complaint had already been filed against him.
• Online Betting Losses: Police are probing whether gambling losses played a role.
• Illicit Relationship Angle: Investigators are also not ruling out personal motives.
Senior officers, including Joint CP Navinchandra Reddy and other top officials, have launched a multi-team investigation. CCTV footage from key junctions, Kadbi Chowk, Kamptee Road, Jaripatka Ring Road, is being scanned. Friends, employees, family members, and financial links are under scrutiny.
Despite one arrest, police maintain that multiple angles are still open, and more arrests could follow.
A City on Edge
This brutal murder has sent shockwaves across Nagpur, raising serious concerns about urban crime, underground financial dealings, and personal vendettas spiralling into violence.
