‘Confusingly insane’ events that ended in 4 murders

“Pathak’s case was an eye opener on the growing crime menace in the slums,” said a senior IPS officer. The bigger picture,said officers,is of “a systematic chain of corruption which makes slumlords out of criminals with the cooperation of civic officials,the local police machinery and greedy real estate lobby”. They added that there is an urgent need for profiling criminals like Pathak and understanding the psychology of such crimes.

The Crime Branch,which helped in tracking Pathak to Varanasi,has asked the commissioner to ensure that the local police do “meticulous evidence collection” on the entire sequence between June 4 and 5 — a request they rarely make.

A separate inquiry has also found how Pathak was a conduit of a Bandra-based builder and had been in the illegal business of building slums on government land. In Kurar,he was working in a local events group,Malad Yuva Ekta Kranti Sanghatana,essentially a hafta collection mechanism. “The group painted houses and built slums. It was a money-making racket and we are now looking into it,” said Ramrao Pawar,Additional Commissioner of Police (North). five-hour drama

“Hazam nahi hua sahab. Illake ke bhai ko jo mara tha,jawaab to dena tha.” (“We couldn’t tolerate it,sir. They had hit the area gangster,we had to give a befitting reply.”)

When Pathak,a historysheeter with 12 criminal cases,was first brought to the Kurar police station at 10.15 pm on June 4 — supposedly for outraging the modesty of a woman — he was seething with rage and thirsty for revenge.

The sequence of events that the police are now able to build based on the confessions,circumstantial evidence and witness statements show a sequence of “confusingly insane” events that led to the macabre climax with four youngsters being stripped,assaulted and eventually killed.

It was around 7.30 pm when Bharat Pudale (27) and his friend Sachin Dhuri (26) were at a doctor’s clinic for payment. Outside Pathak had begun his evening session at the reception of Laxmi Bar,“a bottle and a packet of charas in hand”. “He just had a scuffle with a local tile contractor over overdue payments,” said Pawar.

Dhuri,who was watching Pathak drink,scoffed at him after which the latter flung a bottle at him. Blows were exchanged between Dhuri,Pudale and Pathak and his local boys. The boys left to call for help from their friends in MNS’s youth office at Kasam Baug. Meanwhile,Pathak and his goons resumed drinking and saw his ex-girlfriend returning home.

“He is believed to have threatened her as he was in a foul mood,” said Dattaram Nalavade,senior police inspector.

Meanwhile,the boys from Kasam Baug returned on bikes and some took the bus to reach Laxmi Bar where they thrashed Pathak. “His ego was hurt,” said Deven Bharti,Additional Commissioner (crime). The boys took turns to slap Pathak as the neighbourhood watched.

An hour since the confrontation started,two girls were now in Kurar police station to complain against Pathak. At Shivajinagar,500 m from the police station,blows were being exchanged. According to the Dhuri’s statement,“Job done,they returned home”. Pathak then called for his “local help” from the Sanghatana.

Pudale and his friends had settled for the night,oblivious of what was in store. “They just knew that someone had attacked their friend and they had given a good reply,” said Nalavade.

Pathak sent his men to pick up the boys and one had identified Chetan Dhule. They played for the same band and he became the first target. Pathak went home to change as a group of boys left for Chetan’s house. At 9.15 pm,the boys — posing as clients — reached Chetan’s house where they were informed by his father that he was out. They got his number and called him to a spot and Chetan left with his friend Dinesh Ahire to meet them. Negotiations began and Chetan was promised Rs 3,000 for an orchestra.

He was promised a token amount of Rs 1,000. Rickshaw driver Anil Dixit (now an accused),took them and Pathak’s two friends to Makadwali Compound. “The two thought they were going to collect the money,” said Nalavade.

It was 10.15 pm and the police reached Pathak’s house to pick him based on the women’s complaint. The dispute continued in the police station even as Pathak kept getting updates on his phone on the first set of boys. “Once they were brought to Makadwali Compound,they were thrashed and made to reveal the names of all the boys who were involved in beating Pathak,” said Nalavade.

The boys made Chetan call Bharat to come for a drink to a bar near the local farsan mart. Pathak’s men took Chetan’s phone and went looking for Bharat at the given spot. “They made a call to Bharat and when they saw him answering the phone,they pulled him out of a moving autorickshaw,” said Nalavade. “The boys then made Chetan call Nitin Bambhude on the pretext that Bharat was drunk and they wanted help to take him home.”

At the police station,it was 11.30 pm and a crowd of women supporters of Pathak had gathered to defend him. It had become difficult for the police after they claimed to have witnessed an entirely opposite sequence and alleged that the two girls had concocted the story.

Another search team had left to help Bharat in the meantime when they were attacked and 23-year-old Ganesh Karanje was picked up. “At that moment the boys came rushing to the police station. They could not help us with the details of who picked up their friend. Pathak,who sat on a wooden bench watching all this,didn’t utter a word.”

With all the commotion in the police station,nobody saw Pathak make a call to his friends. “He later confessed that he had then asked his men to take the boys to the hillock,” added Nalavade.