A former sarpanch and member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was murdered while a former corporator, also from the NCP, was injured after they were brutally attacked in two different incidents within a span of six hours in the city on Thursday.
In the first incident, Arjun Ghule, a 59-year-old former sarpanch of Nandushi village located off Sinhagad Road was shot and stabbed to death with sharp weapons by four unidentified assailants near Dhayari Phata on Sinhagad Road on Thursday noon. The assailants left the weapons on the spot before fleeing.
Tension prevailed in the area as commuters panicked on hearing the firing shots. There were heavy traffic jams in the vicinity after the incident.
Police said that Ghule, who was the sarpanch of Nandushi village for 15 years, had past criminal records. Three cases of body offences including murder were registered against him. They suspect that the attack might have been a fallout of either political or past rivalry. The Dattawadi police station has registered a murder case against the unknown assailants.
Police inspector Satish Govekar and crime branch officials are investigating the case. A sniffer dog led the police team to a nearby building, some 50 metres from the crime scene. The assailants fled in the direction of Sinhagad Road, police said.
In the second incident, a gang of four men allegedly fired and stabbed former NCP corporator Manoj Vikram Khanolkar (40) at Dehu Road on Thursday evening. Khanolkar, a resident of Vikasnagar in Dehu, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Ram Jadhav, inspector in-charge of Dehu Road police station said that the firing incident took place around 7 pm near his office when he along with his party members were discussing certain things. Four masked men arrived at the scene and fired a round and stabbed him. The assailants then fled from the spot.
Khanolkar was rushed to private hospital where it was revealed the the bullet brushed past his hand though he received stab wounds on head and hand. Later, he was shifted to Aditya Birla Hospital.
Second attack on Ghule
Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Rajendra Bhamare said that it was the second attack on Ghule. In 2011, Ghule’s grandson Akshay had fired at one Appa Akhade of the same village over political rivalry but Akhade had survived the attack. In 2012, Ghule was also attacked but he too survived.
Talking about the fatal attack, Bhamare said, “Around 12.30 pm on Thursday, Ghule had come to Dhayari Phata and parked his car near the bridge. He wanted to make some affidavits at the registrar’s office and later went to a mobile shop to get his cellphone repaired. When he was returning to his car, four unidentified men who had two country-made revolvers and sharp weapons assaulted him on his head and also fired at him. The four then fled from the spot leaving the weapons at the crime scene.”
The post-mortem was conducted at Sassoon General hospital.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}