The Pune city police arrested two more suspects, including a history-sheeter associated with the BJP, for their alleged role in the murder of gangster Sharad Mohol. The number of arrests in the gangster's murder case now stands at 15. The accused have been identified as Vitthal Mahadev Shelar (36) and Ramdas Nanasaheb Marne (36), both residents of Mulshi. Police suspect Shelar is one of the masterminds behind Mohol's murder. According to police, Shelar is a history-sheeter associated with the BJP. A native of Urawade village in Mulshi, Shelar was previously booked for multiple serious offences such as murder, attempt to murder, extortion and illegal possession of firearms. He was also arrested under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in 2014 but was released on bail in 2017. Police said the same year after his bail, Shelar joined then Pune MP Girish Bapat and BJP president for Pune district Bala Bhegade. Shelar was then made an office bearer of BJP's youth wing and asked to focus on the party's work in Maval, Mulshi and Bhor talukas in Pune district. The BJP drew flak as information about Shelar joining the party spread in the media. Gangster Sharad Mohol was a native of Mulshi. His wife Swati also joined the BJP and is currently an office-bearer of the party's women's wing in Pune. While various angles are being probed, police suspect one of the possibilities behind Mohol's murder was his growing popularity. Police also suspect that Shelar was linked to a dreaded gang having a long rivalry with Mohol. Hence, police are probing whether any previous dispute or rivalry over financial dealings is the cause behind Mohol's murder. Mohol was shot dead by a group of men, including his associate Sahil alias Munna Polekar, near his residence in Sutardara on January 5. The same day, police arrested eight people, including Polekar, travelling in two cars near Shirwal on the Pune-Satara highway. During searches, police recovered three country-made pistols, three magazines, five live cartridges and eight cell phones from their possession. Even after arresting Polekar and his aides, police continued with their probe as they suspected that someone else had masterminded Mohol's murder and provided a large sum of money for the commission of the crime. Further probe revealed that prior to the crime, the assailants procured pistols and practised firing in the Mulshi area on at least two occasions. Police arrested three more people for allegedly supplying pistols to kill Mohol. Three others- Nitin Anata Khaire (34), Aditya Vijay Gole (24) and Santosh Damodar Kurpe, who worked at a government establishment in Kothrud area-were also arrested. According to police, Khaire and Gole had allegedly taken part in the firing practice in Mulshi, a few months before the murder, and also provided financial assistance to the key accused in the crime. Probe also revealed that Gole was present for the meeting, in which the conspiracy to murder Mohol was hatched by the accused. Police suspect Kurpe was in contact with the mastermind after the murder. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Pune City and Navi Mumbai police carried out a massive search operation and nabbed five suspects from Pune and six others from Panvel for questioning in Mohol's murder. 'Hindutva' rally on Jan 28 demanding probe by central agencies Various Hindutva groups in Pune would be taking out a rally on January 28, demanding justice for Sharad Mohol. Representatives of Hindutva groups held a press conference on Monday seeking a probe by central agencies to find out whether Mohol was killed because his name cropped up in the murder of alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorist Qateel Siddique in Yerwada Jail. Mohol and his aide Alok Bhalerao were booked for allegedly strangulating Qateel using a string of Bermuda shorts at the highly secured Anda cell of the Yerwada jail in June 2012. A court acquitted both of them in 2019. Milind Ekbote, a member of the Samasta Hindu Aghadi, said Mohol was working for the Hindutva cause and it should be investigated whether he was killed by anti-Hindu elements.
