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Contract killing probe leads to two more: Police arrest two for three murders in four months
A probe into a Pune contract killing unmasked two history-sheeters who also allegedly murdered a woman and her son over a soured affair, burning their remains to cover the crime.
Senior officers of Pune Rural police in a press briefing about the three murders. (Express photo)
As Pune Rural Police solved a suspected contract killing in Khed taluka and arrested two history-sheeters, the probe gave them another unexpected breakthrough. It led to the detection of two unsolved murders from November last year, with the same accused found to have killed a 46-year-old woman and her 21-year-old son in a fallout of an affair gone sour, officials said.
The police investigation into the case began with the discovery of the dead body of Dhananjay Maruti Ghewade (33), a resident of Rakshewadi in Khed taluka, at a secluded location about 10 kilometers from his village on March 18. Ghewade had fatal injuries to his head and face. With no apparent leads and absence of CCTV coverage around the scene of the crime, the police teams had little to work with in the beginning. Teams from the local police station and Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Pune rural police launched a parallel probe. Some time into the probe, the police team found a camera installed near the point where the access route to the crime scene connects with the main village road.
“Two men were spotted in this footage and one of them was identified as Lalit Deepak Khollam (38), a resident of Shine Vasti in Khed, a notorious criminal with close to three dozen serious cases registered against him including robberies and burglaries. We subsequently identified the man seen with Khollam in the footage as Nandlal Hole (31), another criminal on police records.” said Superintendent of Police for Pune Rural, Sandeep Singh Gill.
Contract killing revealed
“Spotting two known criminals near the crime scene was highly suspicious. The police subsequently traced their movement for over 145 kilometers by checking as many as 110 CCTV cameras installed along the roads. The police finally zeroed in on their location in Vadgaon Nimbalkar. On March 25, the investigation teams finally arrested Khollam and Hole after a chase in a sugarcane field.” Gill added.
Probe soon revealed that Ghewade murder was a contract killing done at the behest of Nilesh Sanas (34), a resident of Ambegaon. Police found out that Hole and Sanas both had part rivalry with Ghewade over personal issues. After Sanas ordered the contract killing of Ghewade, Hole and Khollam had executed it. Subsequently, Sanas was arrested.
The investigation team further questioned Khollam and Hole as they had specific leads on the involvement of the duo in more crimes. Police found out both had spent time in prison and had been released on bail a few months ago.
An affair and two more murders
Police investigation revealed that Khollam was having an affair with a woman identified as Rupali Vilas Wadekar (46), a resident of Shiroli in Khed taluka. Because of this affair, Rupali and her son Shrikant (21), used to repeatedly demand money from Khollam. Investigators found out that on November 7 last year, Khollam called Shrikant and asked him to come to Khed on the pretext of giving him money. At the time Shrikant and Rupali were at Thane.
Police investigation revealed that after Shrikant came to Khed on November 7, Khollam and Hole kidnapped him and took him to a flat in Shiroli where they murdered him with a metal rod.The two took Shrikant’s body to Manchar area and burnt it down. They subsequently dispersed his ashes in the Ghod river. Police have found out that a kidnapping case was registered with Thane City police after Shrikant’s disappearance. Police have now added charges of murder to that offence and have arraigned Khollam and Hole in that offence.
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After Shrikant’s disappearance, Rupali had been repeatedly calling Khollam asking about her son’s whereabouts. To get rid of Rupali, Khollam called her to Khed on November 13. Khollam and Hole murdered her by beating her with an iron rod and also slit her throat. Police have now arrested Khollam and Hole in the undetected murder of Rupali registered with Khed police station and a court has remanded them to police custody till April 13.
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