Lonavala rape-murder: 2 security guards suspects, one arrested

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An offence was registered at Lonavala town police station under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape) and 201 (destruction of evidence) and sections of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act. A mob had vandalised the hotel after the incident.

A special court in Pune allowed Pune rural police to conduct lie-detector and polygraph tests on staffers at Kumar Resort after Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Lonavala division Bhaskar Thorat filed a petition. A senior police officer with Pune rural police said, “We gathered some crucial clues during the lie-detector and polygraph tests of staffers of the hotel.”

The officer added, “During our probe, we found that a security guard had gone missing immediately after the incident and did not return. His phone was switched off. Based on suspicion and clues we got during the lie-detector test, we identified the suspect who is from Bhojpur in Bihar. We sent teams to his home but he was not there. His accomplice was also identified.”

The arrested accomplice Ajay Shankar Dandade (42) hails from Arvin Wardha in Maharashtra. Police searched rooms of both suspects and seized some evidence. Police have not revealed the name of the main suspect so that investigations are not jeopardised.

Police collected samples of blood from rooms of suspects at the hotel and fingerprints from a bottle of liquor near the body of the girl, along with samples of blood and hair from the crime scene.

Deputy superintendent of police Bhaskar Thorat said, “We identified the two suspects and arrested one of them. He has been remanded in police custody till March 19. We sent our teams for his search at various locations.”

Police said they will take blood samples of the mother of the main suspect to find whether they match the DNA samples collected.