# Mumbai police solve watchman murder; five held for robbery plot 2026-08-08T03:15:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Juhu police have arrested five people for the murder of watchman Mohan Yadav on August 1. The accused allegedly planned to rob and kill a businessman, his wife and their daughter at Abhijit residential building in Vile Parle (West). The mastermind is Jogeshwar Mallik, 38, the family's cook for 10 years. He procured duplicate keys and spent two-and-a-half years plotting with Vijay Gonjare, 41, driver of a Bollywood film director. Four men befriended Yadav, spiked his drink, strangled him, and dumped his body in a water tank. They failed to open the flat with duplicate keys around 4.30am on August 2 and fled. Police tracked Gonjare through CCTV footage of him buying operation gloves. Mallik and Gonjare avoided phone calls for six months, meeting in person instead. The building is mostly vacant due to redevelopment, with only three families occupying the 10-storey structure. The arrested also include Sharad Yerudkar, 43, his brother Mahadev Yerudkar, and Aniket Bornak, 30. They have been charged with murder and criminal conspiracy. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com - freepressjournal.in Tags: domestic staff, Mumbai, murder, police investigation, robbery, Vile Parle Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/mumbai-watchman-murder-solved-five-arrested-in-robbery-plot/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/mumbai-watchman-murder-solved-five-arrested-in-robbery-plot/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.