Casting director lost his life in love with an actress, his body was cut into pieces and stuffed in a sack, then went into the forest…

On paper it was just another missing person’s report; But in reality, this was the beginning of one of Mumbai’s most gruesome murder stories, starring a TV journalist, an aspiring actress and a suspicious naval officer.

When television executive and casting director Neeraj Grover stopped answering his phone in May 2008, his worried family contacted the police. He suspected that his girlfriend Maria Susairaj might know more about his disappearance.

About Maria Susairaj

Maria Susairaj was a rising actress and Grover was helping her find work in Mumbai. He told investigators that Grover had left his apartment in Malad around midnight to attend a party in Andheri. Whereas nothing like this had happened. According to investigators, Grover was already dead. His body was cut into pieces, packed in bags, taken out of Mumbai and burnt in the forest. What seemed to be a case of a missing person was actually a case of murder.

Actually, Neeraj Grover used to work with Mumbai-based production house Synergy Adlabs. His friends and colleagues knew him as someone who often helped new artists make their way in the entertainment industry. Maria Susairaj was also one of them. The small-time actress from Kannada cinema was trying to make her mark in television, and Grover reportedly arranged auditions for her and helped her make contacts in the industry. On the other hand, Maria also had a relationship with Lieutenant Emil Jerome Mathew, a naval officer posted in Kochi. According to reports, both were planning to get married. According to police, Maria had told Jerome that Grover liked her, although she herself was not in love with him. By early May 2008, Grover was helping Maria move into a rented apartment in the Malad area of ​​Mumbai.

Suspicion became the reason for murder

On the night of May 6, Neeraj Grover reached Maria’s flat to help her unload her luggage. Later that night, Jerome called Maria and reportedly heard a man’s voice in the background. Maria tells him that Grover is there and will leave after dinner. But Grover stayed there the whole night. At 7:30 in the morning Maria’s doorbell rang. Without informing Maria, Jerome had suddenly reached Mumbai from Kochi. Maria later recalled, “I found Emil at the door. He entered the house straight away and I followed him inside. Neeraj had also woken up.”

According to the information, Jerome entered the bedroom and found Grover there. A conflict started between the two. Maria said, “I saw that Emil took a knife from my kitchen and attacked Neeraj. I tried to catch the knife. The palm of my right hand got hurt.” However, according to investigators, during the fight, Jerome stabbed Grover to death.

post murder shopping

Investigators alleged that Maria had gone shopping that morning on Jerome’s instructions. The things on her list were not ordinary: bags, curtains, bedsheets, room freshener and another knife. Maria said, “After 11 in the morning, Emil dragged Neeraj’s body to the bathroom. Then he asked me to buy bags, curtains, knives and some room freshener.” When she returned, she claimed Jerome told her to stay out of the bathroom and clean up the blood-stained hallway. Investigators allege that by then Grover’s body had been cut into pieces. Maria contacted her friend Kiran Shreyas and borrowed the Hyundai Santro. Maria and Jerome then took the car and stopped at a petrol pump, where Jerome allegedly bought plastic cans and five liters of petrol. Maria told the police, “He put all the body pieces in two big bags and put them in the car. He asked me to drive.” According to police, the two drove towards the manor and turned onto a rough road leading to the forest near Amgaon village. It is alleged that Jerome took out the bags, poured petrol on them and set them on fire.

For many years, there were reports that Grover’s body was cut into 300 pieces. The trial court later rejected this claim as “far from the facts on record” and said it had unnecessarily stoked public anger.

Maria and Jerome got punishment

In July 2011, more than three years after Grover’s murder, a sessions court in Mumbai announced its verdict. Maria was acquitted of murder, but convicted of destroying evidence. He was sentenced to three years in prison, which was equal to the time he spent in custody during the trial, and was soon released. Jerome was convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence. He was sentenced to 10 years for murder and three years for destroying evidence.

The post Casting director lost his life in love with an actress, his body was cut into pieces and stuffed in a sack, then taken to the forest… appeared first on Latest.