22 years later, man who burnt his former girlfriend’s parents to death held in Pune

A man who burned down his former girlfriend's restaurant 22 years ago, killing her parents, was arrested in Pune after being in hiding with his family.

A 44-year-old man, who burned down his former girlfriend’s restaurant 22 years ago, killing her parents, and had been in hiding since then, was arrested in Pune on Saturday, police said and added that he was living there with his wife and two children.

22 years later, man who burnt his former girlfriend’s parents to death held in Pune

The accused has been identified as Yashwant Baburao Shinde, who originally hails from Latur.

Crime branch officers said Abdul Rehman and Zahrabi used to run Goodluck Hotel from the premises of a shanty in Kranti Nagar in Kandivali East, which also doubled up as their residence. Shinde, then 22, was upset with the couple as they allegedly forced their daughter to marry someone else, an officer said.

On the night of August 12, 2001, while they were sleeping after closing their restaurant, Shinde and three of his friends - who also hailed from the same village in Latur – poured petrol on the house and set it on fire, the crime branch officer said.

The Kurar police later identified Shinde’s friends as Moinuddin Sheikh, Nagnath Telange and Vyankant Pachawad. The four were booked under section 307 (attempt to murder), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc.), 438 (using fire to destroy or make a structure unsafe), and 440 (mischief committed after preparation for causing to any person death or hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The three friends who helped him were caught even as the main accused managed to flee. They were also acquitted in 2006 in the absence of any concrete evidence,” deputy commissioner of police (detection 1) Rajtilak Roshan said.

The police kept an eye on Shinde’s family in Latur district, but he never contacted them or anyone from the village, officers said, adding they kept in touch with one villager for any information about him.

A couple of months ago, one of the villagers ran into Shinde unexpectedly, and they exchanged numbers. “This person casually mentioned meeting Shinde to others during his recent visit to Pune. Our informant called us a couple of days ago with the news,” inspector Sudhir Dalvi, in-charge of unit 12 of crime branch, said.

The police then tracked Shinde down to Kondwa in Pune and arrested him. “He was still using his original name though he had snapped ties with his family and friends. Subsequently, he got married and has two children,” Dalvi said.

He was brought to Mumbai on Saturday. On interrogation, Shinde allegedly told the police that he had left for Goa soon after committing the crime and later worked in Bengaluru for a few years and in Hyderabad for some time before moving to Pune in 2005. Shinde was produced in a court which sent him to police custody till November 29, police officers said.