Police said the amount was paid by co-accused and small-time builder Dattatray Yashwant Bhakre in instalments, ostensibly for use by Nepali to force out tenants of a Chembur building, where Bhakre reportedly wanted to undertake a redevelopment project. A senior crime branch officer said, “The money spent on the execution of murder was distributed at different levels for different purposes like purchase of motorcycles for doing a recce, purchasing SIM cards, mobile phone and also arranging accommodation for shooters hired from Uttar Pradesh.”

The Crime Branch had arrested 11 accused — Zaffar Khan alias Abbas, 30, Mohammed Saqib Khan, 23, Raviprakash Singh alias Twinkle, 27, Pankaj Singh, 30, Randhir Singh alias Nikhil, 25, Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh alias Shankar, 27, Dattatray Bhakre, 45, Ravindra Warerkar, 44, Vishwanath Shetty, 47, Rajendra Chavhan, 44, and Dinesh Bhandari, 33 — a month after the murder in Meghna Co-operative Housing Society, Tilak Nagar.

Following the murder, Saqib allegedly received Rs 7 lakh in two instalments from three close aides of Nepali while Abbas allegedly got Rs 2 lakh. The police said Bhakre paid Rs 90 lakh in instalments of Rs 15 lakh to Mohammed Rafiq Sheikh on May 28, Rs 25 lakh to Warekar and Rs 50 lakh to Chavhan.