Ashwini Bidre murder case: Former cop Abhay Kurundkar gets life term

It said that the initial refusal of the police to file an FIR into Ashwini’s disappearance in 2016 and the lapses in the probe later showed that Kurundkar had influence in the police department as well as “political nexus”.

While the prosecution had sought death penalty for Kurundkar, citing his brutality in disposing Ashwini’s body by chopping it into pieces, storing it in the refrigerator and dumping into the Vasai creek never to be found, the court said that it did not warrant the death penalty as it did not fall into the “rarest of rare” category.

The court said that mere mode of disposal of the body may not in itself be a ground to give Kurundkar death penalty.

The court said that it was considering that Kurundkar was a “family man” with the scope for reformation and rehabilitation.

“…(if) the inquiry as to the reformation of the accused number 1 (Kurundkar) is considered then it is evident that his family is in touch with him. He has no criminal antecedents. Further indisputably, the manner and method of disposal of the dead body of the deceased was abhorrent and goes a long way in making the present case most foul and despicable case of murder. The mere mode of disposal of a dead body may not by itself be made the ground for inclusion of a case in the ‘rarest of rare’ category for the purpose of imposition of death sentence…,” additional sessions judge K G Paldewar said in his order Monday.

On April 5, the court had found Kurundkar guilty of murdering Ashwini, who he was in a relationship with.

The court said that it was proved that Ashwini, whose remains were not found, was killed by Kurundkar and that the motive was their quarrels over her insistence to marry him.

He was also found guilty on charges of destruction of evidence, kidnapping, criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt and forgery-for creating false entries in a police registrar and weekly diary to create a false, alibi, in relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.

He was acquitted from charges of criminal conspiracy and intentional insult.

Two of his co-accused, his then driver Kundan Bhandari and his friend Mahesh Phalanikar were convicted on charges of destruction of evidence for helping him get rid of the body. The court sentenced them to seven years in jail, which they have already spent as undertrials since they were arrested in 2017, and hence were ordered to be released.

The court acquitted another accused Dnyandeo alias Raju Patil of all charges.

On April 11, 2016, Ashwini, who was posted in Navi Mumbai, went missing.

Her brother, Anand Bidre, filed a missing complaint in July after the family realising that she had not reported to her duty, and also did not pay her house rent since April.

The Navi Mumbai police, in whose jurisdiction Kurundkar lived, however, did not take a complaint till the family, including Kurundkar’s estranged husband, Raju Gore, approached the Bombay High Court with a writ petition.

The court said that even after the FIR was filed on January 31, 2017, Kurundkar was arrested only in December 2017, pointing to intentional delays and lapses by the police machinery which continued to stand by Kurundkar.

The prosecution led by special public prosecutor Pradip D Gharat submitted that technical probe like Call Data Records, Google timeline and location maps and circumstantial evidence showed Kurundkar’s involvement.

“..it is evident that accused no. 1 and Ashwini were having extra-marital relations. It was discord in between them on account of marriage. Due to it, at many instances they had quarrels. The accused had hit her and issued life threats. He was fed up with her and to get rid from her, he eliminated her. He has destroyed the weapons used in the crime,” the court said, adding that the body or weapons not being found cannot be a ground to acquit the accused.

It said that it was proved that the other two accused helped Kurundkar in buying plastic bags and weights to keep the body parts from floating on top at the Vasai creek.

The court said that Kurundkar had made false entries of being on duty when the crime took place. It said that he had not been able to explain the reason to make false entries, or to get his flat where the crime took place repainted without informing the landlord or changing the mats of the car in which the body was taken as per the prosecution’s case.

“The accused number 1 was a senior police inspector and skilled in investigation. Pursuant to the incident, he has taken all cautions to destroy the evidence. Therefore, he cannot take shelter of those facts that there is no evidence against him, which were destroyed by him,” the court said agreeing with the contention of the prosecution that Kurundkar had “political influence” and influence in the political department as well.

The court said that this was depicted in him being recommended for the President’s award at the time when his involvement in the case had come to light.

Kurundkar’s lawyer, Vishal Bhanushali, said that they will be filing an appeal before the Bombay High Court against the trial court’s order.
Kurundkar had said in his defence that there was no evidence that Ashwini was killed with nobody having seen them together last on April 11, 2016, nor any recovery from his home to show that she was killed there.