Kolhapur police get into the act; eight held

Similarly, Ajit Shinde a suspect in Sutar’s murder on April 25 1997, was arrested by Inspector Dhairyasheel Pawar of the crime branch, Sanap said. Shinde had been eluding arrest for more than a year and half. “The police did not have any clue till the officials of Lakshmipuri police station arrested Shafiq Bandval in connection with a theft. During his questioning, clues to Sutar’s murder surfaced,” he said. Ajit Shinde is Bandval’s friend. Shinde’s brother owns a country liquor shop. Sutar frequented the place and demanded liquor free of cost. He also harassed Shinde’s brother and often demanded money from him, following which he was murdered near Kalamba Ring road in 1997, added Sanap. On the Gavli murder case, Sanap said Suresh Khot, Pramod Salunkhe and Jabbar Navaz had already been arrested. Yusuf and Faiyaz Shaikh were arrested at Hotel Vanmala.

“Gavali owed the accused money who threatened to sell Gavli’s autorickshaw to make him repay the debt. When Gavali failed to repay the loan, he was brutally murdered,”said Sanap. Mahesh Walvalkar, an organiser of Fun-n-Fair exhibition at Shahupuri Gymkhana ground in the city, was kidnapped by four persons today afternoon at the entrance of the exhibition.

“He was dragged to a white Maruti by three persons and they headed towards Pune. A case was registered this afternoon at Shahupuri police station,”Sanap said. Swinging quickly into action, the police tracked down the car’s number and alerted the highway traffic police in Sangli and Satara. The car was stopped at Bhuinj in Satara and Vilas Dhumal, Manoj Palkhe, Dhananjay Shirtode and Sachin Shelar, from Pune , were arrested. The motive is yet to be ascertained, Sanap added.