Officers said John had confessed to the crime and divulged information that would lead them to the evidence required to corroborate the police’s version of how the crime unfolded.
John (46) was arrested from a Nalasopara hotel after he threw a chemical at Hosbetkar, 26, at her Worli home on Wednesday. Officers said they had asked for John’s custody to seize vital evidence like his SUV, the mobile phone that he had allegedly snatched from Hosbetkar on the day of the incident, and the hard disk of his laptop.
On Monday, John told police officers that he had parked his SUV near Bhayander railway station. He had used the vehicle to reach the victim’s residence and then flee from the spot before heading to Valsad so that he could remain in hiding until his lawyer applied for anticipatory bail. The police will send a team to recover the vehicle on Tuesday.
John has also given the address of the dealer from whom he bought the liquid chemical. A team will question the dealer from Masjid Bunder. “We will find out the nature of the chemical, which will help us add charges of the Explosives Act on him or book him for attempt to murder,” said Dhananjay Kulkarni, DCP (Zone 5).
Police officers said after attacking Hosbetkar, John went to his office at Chuim Village in Khar Danda and erased the CCTV footage there. “John had left Hosbetkar’s mobile phone at his office,” said an officer.
John allegedly told cops that Hosbetkar had dumped him, and he wanted to get even. He had planned the attack and dropped his wife and five-year-old son at airport after John told his wife that they would be separated until their divorce was finalised.
“We have recorded the statements of eyewitnesses. They are Hosbetkar’s friends. She had asked them to wait at the spot minutes before John threw the chemical at her face,” said Kulkarni.
Jerrit john case
Jerrit John bought the chemical from a dealer in Masjid Bunder
He arrived at the crime spot in his SUV, and fled in it after throwing chemical on victim’s face
He drove to his office in Chuim Village and erased CCTV footage
John left the victim’s mobile phone, which he had snatched before attacking her, at his office
He then left his SUV at Bhayander before heading to Valsad, where he planned to remain in hiding till his lawyer filed for anticipatory bail