On the night of April 5, 2023, young farmer Tejas Tambe in Belhe village of Pune’s Junnar taluka received a call from his uncle Pandurang Tambe, 39, asking for two pairs of night pants and two T-shirts. When Tejas went to the backyard of his family home in the village’s Tambewadi area with the clothes, Pandurang and another distant relative Mahesh Kasal, 30 – soaked in blood - were waiting for him next to Pandurang's car, investigators said. According to the police, a few hours before, Kishor Kondibhau Tambe, 40, another relative of Tejas, had left home around 7.30 pm saying he was going to their farm. Hours passed, but he did not return home. A farmer, Kishor was also the director of the Vividh Karyakari Cooperative Credit Society. Besides, he had the business of excavating and selling murrum, which is disintegrated rock used for filling in construction works. The next morning, as Kishor had still not returned home, his family filed a missing person's report at Alephata police station. A joint search was launched by teams from the local police station and the Local Crime Branch of Pune Rural police. Police dog Durga led the investigation team to a spot in Tambewadi which had a canal and a well. An extensive search of the area, however, did not yield anything concrete, officers said. Meanwhile, the police team zeroed in on Tejas. Questioning him revealed that the night Kishor had gone missing, Pandurang and Kasal had arrived there soaked in blood and had asked for a change of clothes. Tejas also revealed that around 6 am on April 6, Pandurang had asked him to change the rear seat cover of his WagonR car, which was also covered in blood. Armed with this information, the police brought in Pandurang and Kasal. Following sustained interrogation, the duo confessed to killing Kishor over rivalry and then dumping his body in a well – the same one to which police dog Durga had earlier directed the investigators. This time, however, Kishor's body was fished out of the well. Investigation revealed that Pandurang nursed a grudge against Kishor over business rivalry in connection with the murrum business. Meanwhile, Kasal too held something against Kishor. Around 2021, his relative Sagar Kachale had allegedly died by suicide. Kasal believed that Kishor had spread the rumour blaming him for the alleged suicide. Pandurang and Kasal hatched a plan to eliminate Kishor. According to the police, the two invited Kishor to consume alcohol on a farm on the fateful evening. They got him drunk before repeatedly hitting him with iron rods. The probe suggested that the murder was committed around 9 pm, following which it took them around two hours to dump his body in the well. It was around 11.15 pm that Pandurang dialled Tejas asking him for a change of clothes. Besides the two main accused, the police also arrested Tejas on charges of criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. A chargesheet was filed against the trio around two months after the killing. An official from Alephata police station said Tejas is currently out on bail while the bail pleas of Pandurang and Kasal are pending before the Bombay High Court. The trial in the case is yet to begin.
