14 years on, state continues to oppose bail of murder accused

Fourteen years after his arrest and incarceration as an undertrial, the state government is hell bent on keeping Ramchandra Pandey, 51, behind bars stating that he is a “history-sheeter”.

Opposing his bail on Wednesday, the government submitted an affidavit filed by superintendent of police SR Chavan of the Economic Offences Wing, State CID Pune, that said, “the role of the accused (Pandey) is of a serious nature and he was the driver of the car that was seized by the investigating officer”.

An accused in the 1990 murder of Ghanshyam Bhatija, who was allegedly shot dead by an unidentified man at the behest of tainted politician Pappu Kalani, Pandey has been in jail since his arrest on October 30, 1995.

The crime attributed to him by the prosecution is that he was driving the car in which one Kimmat Kalani and two identified men drove to Pinto Park hotel in Ulhasnagar and one of the two men shot Bhatija. While the charge sheet was filed back in 1993, the SC stayed the trial after Bhatija’s kin filed a special leave petition.
Chavan’s affidavit also states that Pandey is a history-sheeter. The police have enlisted six cases against him under Arms Act, 1959, various sections of the IPC and Tada Act, 1987.

The prosecution also said Pandey had absconded after Bhatija’s murder, but his advocate Abhaykumar Apte insisted he had been ‘very much available’ to record his statement. Justice RS Mohite adjourned the case till May 6.