18-yr-old auto driver killed over Rs.40 fare dispute, 2 held
NAVI MUMBAI, Sept. 1 -- A dispute over a Rs.40 auto fare ended in the murder of an 18-year-old driver in Vashi early on Saturday, with two passengers allegedly attacking him with a sharp weapon before fleeing in his rickshaw, police said. The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch and Vashi police arrested the two suspects on Monday from Mankhurd after an eyewitness and CCTV footage helped investigators trace them.
The accused were identified as Sahil Ananda Surve, 20, and Sahil Yashwant Kharat, 20, both residents of Maharashtra Nagar in Mankhurd. They were traced and detained in the Mankhurd area, police said. Surve has a previous criminal record, according to police. He was booked by police in an attempt-to-murder case and was released on bail in October 2025.
The deceased, Sujankumar Mahato, a resident of Ghansoli, had left home in his rickshaw on Friday evening to ferry passengers. At around 3.36am on Saturday, the two accused allegedly boarded his rickshaw near Koparkhairane railway station and asked to be taken to Mankhurd.
Mahato quoted a fare of Rs.140, but the two men allegedly said they had only Rs.100. An argument broke out between them, police said. The dispute escalated when the rickshaw reached the Hanuman Temple area in Sector 5, and the two men allegedly took out a sharp weapon, threatened Mahato and then attacked him. "Mahato died on the spot. The accused then fled the spot with his rickshaw," police said.
"Based on CCTV footage and information received from eyewitness, we identified the two suspects and traced them to Mankhurd," police said....
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