Nayana Pujari case: Naik held for escape of murder-rape accused

The Bund Garden police on Saturday night arrested the police naik, Sumersingh Sursingh Patil (47), in connection with the escape of the prime accused in the Nayana Pujari rape and murder case, Yogesh Ashok Raut (25).

Patil was produced in the court of judicial magistrate first class RL Wankhede on Monday and remanded in police custody till September 25.

Raut, the main suspect in the murder and gang rape of software engineer Pujari, gave the police the slip at the Sassoon General Hospital where he was taken for treatment on Saturday afternoon. Patil had accompanied Raut to the hospital.

The police have charged Patil under Indian Penal Code, 1860, sections pertaining to negligence in discharging duty. Head constable Nivrutti Sadashiv Chavan, who was incharge of escorting undertrial prisoners, has lodged a complaint against Patil.

Raut, also facing trial in another case involving the kidnapping and murder of vegetable vendor Vishaka Mandal, was brought to Sassoon Hospital from the Yerawada jail for treatment as he complained of itching and body ache.

"He escaped after Patil removed his handcuffs after the suspect told him he wanted to go to toilet. Patil left Raut alone and thereby helped him run away," said police inspector Sudhakar Kate, who is investigating the case. According to Chavan's complaint, all the policemen returned to the van with the undertrials, except Patil who had gone to ward no 33 with Raut.

"I went to the ward and saw Patil standing there with handcuffs and rope. When I asked him about the accused, he told me he would come to the van with him. Then, I returned to the van. When Patil didn't return, I got suspicious and took the van driver with me to the ward to check again and saw Patil still standing there. Patil then told us that the accused had escaped," Chavan stated.

Arguing for seven days police custody, assistant public prosecutor Shilpa Mahataekar told the court that the police have to investigate conspiracy, if any, behind the escape. Raut is still at large.

Meanwhile, speaking to DNA, Sunil Pawar of crime branch unit II said, "We are carrying out a parallel investigation with the police and a manhunt to nab the suspect is on."

PCMC engineer's wife's murder: Gardener held
The Pune rural police have arrested a gardener in connection with the daylight murder of Shital Ovhal (35), the wife of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) engineer Vinay Ovhal.
The suspect has been identified as Laxman Prabhu Wagh (25) of Akurdi. The police said theft was the motive behind murder. The police are probing whether there is an involvement of a second suspect.

Shital, a resident of Kaleshwari Housing Society in sector 26 of Nigdi-Pradhikaran area, was brutally murdered on August 26 when her husband was in the office.
Acting on a tip-off, the police zeroed in on Wagh, who worked as gardener in sector 26 area, where the murder took place.

The police said Wagh was behaving suspiciously after the murder and was planning to go to his native place in Parbhani district.

A police team led by sub-inspector Somnath Jadhav nabbed him from his house in Akurdi.

"During interrogation, he confessed to having committed the crime with the motive of committing theft,'' said senior inspector Ram Jadhav of Dehu Road police station.

According to the FIR lodged by the deceased's husband on August 26, Wagh along with another suspect visited his house. The duo told Shital that they are gardeners and her husband had asked them to do some gardening work in their bungalow.

When Shital contacted her husband to verify, the duo attacked her with sharp weapons. She collapsed and became unconscious due to multiple stab injuries. Later, she succumbed to her injuries at a hospital.

HC rejects Navale's anticipatory bail plea
The court of justice JH Bhatia of Bombay high court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Sinhgad Technical Education Society founder, MN Navale, in connection with a land grab case.
The police are on the lookout to arrest Navale, following the rejection of his anticipatory bail application.

The trustees of the Pavan Gandhi Charity Trust (PGCT), Chainsukh Gandhi and Ravindra Barate, had filed a case in the court against Navale and others for allegedly grabbing 11.5 acres belonging to the trust by forging documents. A case was registered with the Deccan Gymkhana police station.

After the sessions judge rejected the bail, Navale had filed his anticipatory bail plea before the high court on Thursday last by his lawyer.

The lawyer of PGCT, Sachindra Shetye, said in the court that the suspects had allegedly pre-planned the incident and have used wrongful and fraudulent measures to grab the land. "The police want to investigate the case, for which the suspect's bail application must be rejected," Shetye said. Senior inspector of Deccan police station, Manohar Joshi, was present in the court.

"We could not arrest him in Mumbai since he was not present during the hearing. I have alerted my staff at the police station to search for him and arrest him," Joshi said, adding that while returning from Mumbai, he had visited the institute's Lonavla campus but Navale was not present there.