Kin help police hunt for missing accused

“Even now,some of the kin of the absconding accused are moving around with us,helping us locate them. However,as they are constantly changing their locations,we are unable to nab them.”

The five accused — Vaibhav Chavan (23),Gholu Choube (22),Amit Soni (23),Hemant Gupta (28) and Rashmikant Khatri (22) — have been remanded in police custody till June 15. They allegedly confessed to the police in their statements that they were involved in beating the men,kidnapping them and taking them to the Chautha Dongar on the orders of the main accused Uday Pathak,who is absconding.

The five also reportedly told the police that after the victims beat them up in Shivaji Nagar on Saturday evening,they planned to pick them up one by one and kill them for insulting Pathak. “They told us that after the fight,it had become a prestige issue for Pathak who wanted to maintain his terror in the locality. They revealed the entire sequence of events,from kidnapping the men and taking them to the mountain and then killing them,” said Jaywant Hergude,ACP (Crime Branch).

The Crime Branch has formed four teams of five officers each to trace Pathak,who is said to be hiding in Ghaziabad,Uttar Pradesh.

The locals said they did not know the arrested accused. Further inquiries revealed that the accused were identified by their nicknames in the area,so the residents were unaware which of the men were arrested. The police officers said Chavan is known as Bodya,Choube is nicknamed Bhonu,Gupta is called Gibbs and Khatri is nicknamed Rashu.

“Amit was friends with Pathak but he could not have killed anyone. But we are still cooperating with the police,” said his relative on condition of anonymity.