Just in time, Pune police uncover elaborate plot to avenge former NCP corporator Vanraj Andekar’s murder

Vanraj Andekar, 40, was shot dead near his residence in Nana Peth on September 1, 2024. Vanraj’s father Suryakant alias Bandu Anderkar is the leader of the Andekar gang operating from the mid-city areas of Pune for the last 40 years.

During the investigation of Vanraj’s murder, the police arrested 22 people, including his sister Sanjivani Komkar and brother-in-law Jayant Komkar. After a dispute, Sanjivani and Jayant allegedly conspired to kill Vanraj with the help of Somnath Gaikwad, a criminal on police record from the Ambegaon Pathar area in Pune city.

Gaikwad, 41, a former henchman of the Andekar gang who later became a rival, allegedly executed Vanraj’s murder. The police suspect that the Andekar gang planned to kill Gaikwad’s son for taking a “powerful revenge” for Vanraj’s murder on the occasion of his first death anniversary, on September 1.

But a day before, on August 31, a suspect, Datta Balu Kale of Ganesh Peth, was nabbed by the police after receiving information that he was suspiciously taking photographs of certain spots and houses in the Ambegaon Pathar area.

When the police questioned Kale, they discovered that he had been incarcerated in Yerwada jail in 2018 for a rape case, during which he came in contact with Swaraj Wadekar of the Andekar gang.

The police said that after being released from jail, Kale joined the Andekar gang. Vanraj’s cousin Krushna Andekar provided a room to Kale and also gave money for his daily expenses, the police added. Krushna allegedly asked a gang member, Yash Mohite, to conduct the recce of the houses of Gaikwad and his aides in the Ambegaon Pathar area.

The investigation revealed that Krushna allegedly paid Rs 5,000 to Mohite to rent a room in Ambegaon Pathar on August 29 to observe these houses. On August 30, Mohote allegedly rented a room in Ambegaon Pathar. He and Kale monitored the houses and shared their findings with Krushna via WhatsApp, according to the police.

According to the FIR, Krushna allegedly sent Aman Pathan, Yash Patil, Sujal Mirgu and Swaraj Wadekar with five firearms.

Meanwhile, the investigation revealed that the Andekar gang had procured firearms, possibly for carrying out the revenge killing. A crime branch team arrested two men, Talim Mohammed Khan alias Arif of Loni Kalbhor and Yunus Jalil Khan of Sayyad Nagar, Hadapsar, both aged 24, with possession of country-made pistols and two cartridges on September 1.

The police suspect the duo are linked to the Tipu Pathan gang and they supplied firearms to the Andekar gang members. Further investigation is on, the police said.