Teen, boyfriend arrested for Killing cab driver

By Sumesh Rajan l April 9, 2025

NAVI MUMBAI, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA — A 19-year-old woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend have been arrested in connection with the murder of a 43-year-old cab driver who had allegedly blackmailed the woman using secretly recorded intimate videos. The incident took place in Sector 24, of Ulwe node in Navi Mumbai, located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

The accused, Riya Dinesh Sarkanyasingh, a native of Punjab, had recently moved to Navi Mumbai in search of employment. During her initial days in the city, she became acquainted with the victim, Surendra Asaram Pandey, a cab driver originally from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, who was residing alone in Kriyansh Residency, Sector 24, Ulwe.

In an apparent act of goodwill, Pandey offered Riya temporary accommodation at his residence. On April 2, 2025, Riya invited her boyfriend, Vishal Sanjay Shinde, from Sangamner, Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, to stay with her at Pandey’s residence. During their stay, Pandey allegedly recorded intimate videos of the couple without their knowledge and began blackmailing Riya, threatening to leak the footage online unless she submitted to his sexual demands.

According to the police, the ongoing harassment led to a violent altercation between the trio, during which Riya and Vishal allegedly struck Pandey with a hammer, causing his death. They then wrapped his body in a bedsheet, locked the residence from the outside, and fled the scene in the victim’s Maruti WagonR car.

While escaping, the couple was involved in a minor road accident near Pune, Maharashtra, but were unharmed. They continued on to Sangamner, where they confessed the crime to Vishal’s family. Encouraged by the family to come clean, the couple surrendered at Sangamner Police Station on April 6, 2025.

The Sangamner police then alerted their counterparts in Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, who rushed to the crime scene and discovered Pandey’s decomposed body inside the locked apartment.

Both accused are now in the custody of the Navi Mumbai Police, who have launched a detailed investigation. Digital devices have been seized for forensic examination to verify the existence and use of any blackmail material.

“The accused have confessed to the crime, citing repeated blackmail and threats from the deceased as their reason,” a senior police officer confirmed. “We are thoroughly investigating all digital and physical evidence related to the case.”