Father paid Rs 75L ‘supari’ to have builder killed; 6 arrested, pistol seized

A Police probe into the case revealed Argade’s father Dineshchandra, alias Balasaheb, had given “supari” (blood money) of Rs 75 lakh to kill him. Police have arrested the father Dineshchandra Argade and five others. Police identified the five accused as Pravin Kudle, Yogesh Jadhav of Sutardara, Kothrud, Chetan Pokale, Prashant Ghadge of Warje and Ashok Thombre of Erandwane.

On the afternoon of April 16, two persons had attempted to open fire at Dheeraj Argade after he steppedout of the office in Argade heights on J M Road and sat in his car. Even though one of the suspects had pulled the trigger on a pistol, it did not fire and Dheeraj did not get hurt. The duo had then fled from the spot.

A Police team headed by senior police inspector Shabbir Sayyad of the crime branch checked about 250 videos from CCTV cameras around crime scenes and other locations and identified the duo as Pravin Kudle and Yogesh Jadhav. Cops nabbed the two accused persons.

The probe also revealed that Kudle and his aide Pokale tried to kill Dheeraj by attacking him with a sharp weapon on February 10 this year in an area under the jurisdiction of Chaturshringi police station. Dheeraj was injured in this attack. Police then arrested Pokale in this case.

Police said Kudle, Pokale and Jadhav had received Rs 5 lakh from Prashant Ghadge and Ashok Thombre to kill Dheeraj. Police said that since they failed to kill Dheeraj on February 10, they procured a country made pistol and attempted to eliminate him on April 16, but were unsuccessful again.

“On further investigations, we came to know that the complainant’s father had offered supari of Rs 75 lakh to Ghadge and Thombre to kill him. Of this, Rs 20 lakh was paid in advance. Ghadge and Thombre then paid Rs 5 lakh to other accused persons for getting the job done. We have arrested all six accused. Prima facie, it is learnt that the complainant’s father wanted to kill him following some dispute over property and family matters. We are investigating further,” said Amitesh Kumar, commissioner of Pune city police, during a press conference on Wednesday.

Police have recovered the country-made pistol, a live cartridge and other material from the accused persons, said DCP (crime) Amol Zende.

Police said Kudle is a notorious criminal, who was booked in about nine serious offences in the past. Pokale is a history sheeter with two previous criminal cases. police said a probe is on to determine from where the accused procured the pistol used in the crime.

42 firearms, 74 cartridges seized in a month

In view of the Lok Sabha elections and the rising number of crimes involving the use of firearms, the Pune city police carried out a drive against illegal weapons. Cops checked history sheets in various criminal cases.

In the last one moth, Police hace arrested 28 persons in 19 offences and seized 42 firearms (country made pistols and revolvers) and 72 live cartridges from their possession.

Of these, 28 firearms and 54 cartridges were seized by the crime branch sleuths, while the remaining were recovered by police station teams, stated a press release.

“Action against illegal firearms is a matter of priority for us. There have been a few back to back incidents where crimes were committed using firearms. We have intensified our action….,” said police commissioner Amitesh Kumar.