Murder case registered against ASI Dilip Shirke

The Vakola police on Sunday registered a murder and attempt to commit murder case against Vakola assistant sub-inspector Dilip Shirke for gunning down senior police inspector Vilas Joshi and injuring constable Balasaheb Aher on Saturday night. The case was later handed over to the Crime Branch for further investigation. The police are also probing whether Shirke had planned to open fire, sources said.

The complainant in the case is police constable Vivekanand Salunkhe. As per the police, Salunkhe was standing outside Joshi's cabin when the firing took place.

"We have seized the weapon that was used for the crime and will send it to the forensic department. The ballistic report will confirm if the same weapon was used for the crime and whether the bullets were fired from it. Although the man who committed murder killed himself too, we would be probing this case as a regular murder case," said a police officer who is part of the investigations.

According to the police, Shirke was put on night duty on May 1. Since he was not present on duty he was marked as absent in the station diary. "Primarily, this led to an argument between him and Joshi and then he fired upon Joshi and Aher. However, we are probing whether this was the only reason or there was something more to it. We are also probing if Shirke was in any tension since the past few days and planned to shoot indeed," said the officer.

The police will also be probing whether Shirke had threatened anyone using his revolver and whether he was involved in such heated arguments before. "We would check all things like when did Shirke get the revolver from the department and whether the weapon was issued on his name," added the officer.

A senior police officer said that since the person who committed the crime is not alive, the police would file an abetted summary to close the case once the investigation is over. A report in this regard would also be given to the commissioner of police.