3 held for murdering elderly driver who hitched a ride with him

The deceased, identified arsenic Rajesh Baburao Gaikwad, a nonmigratory of Nashik, came to Pune from Nashik connected January 27 for a trip, for which his services were hired. Around 7.30pm the aforesaid day, helium called his woman saying that helium would scope location by 9.30pm. However, astir 10.30pm, his woman again received a telephone from her husband’s telephone saying immoderate idiosyncratic had recovered the telephone lying connected the roadside on the Pune-Nashik road successful Santwadi area. The callers kept the telephone astatine a adjacent hotel.

Around 2.30am connected January 28, Gaikwad’s household reached the edifice and searched for him successful the country wherever the telephone was found. However, Gaikwad and his car could not beryllium traced. The household registered a missing persons ailment astatine Alephata constabulary presumption nether the Pune agrarian police.

As the constabulary launched a hunt for Gaikwad astir 9.30am connected January 28, his assemblage was recovered successful the Santwadi area. Gaikwad’s hands were tied down his backmost with a zip tie. The archetypal autopsy reports suggested that helium was strangled to death. A coordinated probe was launched by teams from Alephata constabulary presumption and the section transgression subdivision of the Pune agrarian police.

The constabulary teams checked dozens of information cameras installed successful the area. The archetypal pb successful the lawsuit came erstwhile Gaikwad’s car was spotted successful a CCTV camera of a edifice connected the Nashik to Pune corridor of the highway. Based connected aggregate CCTV footages, constabulary recovered that the car went towards the determination wherever the assemblage was recovered and past proceeded towards Malshej ghat. CCTV footage and connected crushed probe besides revealed that astatine 1 point, determination were 4 persons sitting successful the car on with Gaikwad.

Police recovered Gaikwad’s car abandoned successful Kasara ghat connected the mode to Nashik. Further investigation of CCTV footages ascertained the identities of the suspects who were seen successful Gaikwad’s car. Over the past 3 days, constabulary arrested the 3 suspects—Vishal Ananda Chavan (22), Mayur Vijay Solse (23) and Ruturaj Vijay Sonavane (21), each residents of Gangapur Road country successful Nashik.

Superintendent of Police for Pune agrarian Pankaj Deshmukh said, “Probe suggests that the suspects hitched a thrust successful Gaikwad’s car on the mode with an volition to hijack it. We fishy that they murdered him by strangulation, perchance due to the fact that Gaikwad resisted. The suspects past dumped his assemblage and fled. Our hunt for the 4th fishy is presently on. The lawsuit highlights the risks of car drivers picking up chartless passengers extracurricular of their assigned work. We are appealing to drivers not to edifice to this practice. Multiple incidents of specified passengers attacking the drivers person been reported successful the past.”

Dinesh Tayde, in-charge inspector of Alephata constabulary station, said, “The 3 suspects are hardened criminals. Probe suggests that these suspects intended to usage the hijacked car for an equipped robbery successful Nashik, perchance astatine a shop. But they dropped the program since they thought the conveyance volition beryllium flagged successful the execution investigation. Solse and Chavan are accused successful a execution lawsuit registered astatine Gangapur constabulary presumption successful Nashik successful 2022.”

Inspector Avinash Shilimkar of the section transgression subdivision (LCB) of the Pune Rural constabulary said, “Our probe has besides unearthed the engagement of these suspects successful a lawsuit of carjacking registered astatine Chakan constabulary presumption past year, which had remained unsolved till now. The wanted fishy successful the lawsuit besides has aggregate offences registered against him.”