Another senior citizen killed

Police feel theft or alleged illicit affair of the victim with his domestic help could be probable reasons behind his murder. It is suspected that the murder took place on Friday late evening. The complaint was registered at the Lonavala rural police station.

The police said,the victim owns a bungalow,Golden Palm at Indrayani Society,in Waksai in Wadgaon Maval. He used to operate a hardware business in London earlier and had shifted to Pune in 2006.

On Saturday morning,when his driver Ganesh Shinde reached the bungalow,he noticed some changes in one of the windows. When he looked in,he saw Padam’s body in a pool of blood. He then called Padam’s relatives and police.

Senior police officers,including deputy superintendent Shrikrishna Kokate,inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar of local Crime Branch and inspector Vishnu Pawar of Lonavala rural police visited the crime scene. Padam’s nephew Surjitsingh Padam also came to the spot.

Inspector Pawar said,“During investigation we found that metallic grills of a window inside the bungalow had been stretched. Padam’s gold ring,watch,cell phone and some cash were stolen. We suspect burglars broke into the bungalow by stretching the window grill in the wee hours with the purpose of committing theft.”

“Padam may have obstructed the thieves,due to which the burglars may have attacked him and hit his head with a hard object,causing death. The burglars stole valuables and fled. However,all angles are being probed,” said Pawar.

Police said Padam was addicted to liquor and after a dispute with his family members for this,he had decided to stay alone in Maval. Investigation revealed that Padam had an affair with his household help Kavita. Police said Padam had fired his driver a fortnight ago doubting he had an affair with Kavita and employed Shinde as his driver.

Inspector Pawar said Padam’s Kavita and the former driver were not traceable for the last few days and their involvement is being probed.

Padam is survived by his wife and daughter,both in London and likely to reach Pune in a couple of days. Padam owned an apartment in Nana Peth in Pune.

Padam’s body was sent for postmortem.