Held for UoP murder,suspects being quizzed for Dabholkar killing: Counsel

However,in the court defence lawyer B A Aloor informed the magistrate that the police were probing the accused for Dabholkar’s murder. He said the suspects have in police custody for the last 10 days. During this period,the investigators have always maintained,albeit never on record,that the role of these suspects is being probed for Dabholkar’s murder.

“The police say the suspects are not cooperating. It is surprising that despite a custody of 10 days,the police are unable to progress in their investigation. The police are telling the court that they are probing the murder in the university but they are actually investigating them for Dabholkar murder case,” he argued. Aloor said the police have already quizzed Henna Pathan,lover of one of the suspects.

But the court replied that the hearing was not related to the Dabholkar case. The court said only the remand report and case diary will be looked into. The court then extended the police custody of the suspects by two days till December 11.

Meanwhile,Ramvilas,father of suspect Manish Nagori,said,“My son is neither involved in the Dabholkar case nor in the murder of the security guard. He was first arrested by Thane crime branch,then by ATS and now by Pune police. He has been in custody for over 50 days now. He should not be framed in the Dabholkar murder case.”

Ramvilas claimed that mobile phone call records of Manish show that he was not in Pune on August 20,when Dabholkar was shot dead.

Khandelwal’s father Ramavtar said his son was picked up by the Thane police on August 20 itself,so he cannot be involved in Dabholkar’s murder. “My son has no crime record and is being framed in the murder in university,” he said.

Without linking the suspects to Dabholkar case,Pune police commissioner Gulabrao Pol said that Nagori gang is being probed. He said that two suspects from Goa and one from Mumbai held for questioning in Dabholkar’s murder were not found to be involved in it.

Police sources said they are probing whether firearms supplied by Nagori’s gang was used for murdering Dabholkar. “We have questioned several criminals,including illegal fire arms dealers as a part of investigation,” sources said.

The police have told the court that Nagori and his aides have sold 47 illegal firearms to criminals in different parts of the state. And investigation is on to know the details of the persons who bought them. Also,the suspects have used 13 SIM cards to commit crime. The police are probing the details of calls made using these SIM cards.

Earlier,Nagori was arrested along with Ravindra alias Gotya Mane in October by the ATS under sections of the Arms Act. Before that,Nagori was arrested by the Thane police crime branch along with Mali,Khandelwal,Bagade and one Heena Pathan around August 24,just four days after Dabholkar’s murder in Pune,for allegedly demanding extortion money of Rs 15 lakh from a Mumbra-based businessman. Police say Heena too had played a role in the UoP murder.