Kakad murder: Palande,aides chargesheeted

The chargesheet filed in the Kakad murder runs into 1,042 pages. It contains statements of 105 public witnesses and 14 police witnesses,said officers. While Palande,model Simran Sood and Dhananjay Shinde have been named as accused in the latest chargesheet,another associate of Palande in the police net,Manoj Gajkosh,has not been named.

Palande had led a team of Crime Branch officers to the Kumbharli ghats near Ratnagiri district’s Chiplun area on April 29,where the police found the decomposed body of a man. DNA tests conducted on the remains revealed that the torso was that of Kakad.

“We have filed the chargesheet in the Kakad case before the court,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

“The chargesheet has not named Gajkosh as there was not enough evidence to prove that he played a role in the murder. The chargesheet is detailed and includes lists of several supporting evidence that will nail the accused,” said a Crime Branch officer,who did not wish to be named.

“Mobile locations of the accused match with the area where the murder took place. We have attached 264 pages of call detail records (CDR),” said the officer.

The police have also attached DNA tests of the torso found in Kumbharli ghats,along with reports of a DNA match with Kakad’s mother. The Crime Branch also attached reports that said the coagulated blood samples found from a cavity behind a drain at Kakad’s Oberoi Springs residence — where he is believed to have been murdered on March 6 — had matched those of his mother.

“Shinde’s fingerprints matched the ones found at the murder spot,” said the officer.

The chargesheet also mentions physical evidence collected against the three accused,which includes Kakad’s BMW that the police had recovered from Pune.

“Apart from the car,the chopper and sickle that were used,and the bracelet he wore have been cited as evidence. We have also used the tablet phone that was recovered as evidence. Credit card transactions have also been attached. The motive in this case is the car and jewellery,” said the officer.

Palande was first chargesheeted in the Arun Tikku murder and then for escaping from police custody.