3 remanded to police custody for plotting murder of BJP corporator Dheeraj Ghate

PUNE Three men were remanded to custody of the Pune police for plotting the murder of local BJP corporator Dheeraj Ghate at a local restaurant in Pune on the afternoon of September 3

PUNE Three men were remanded to custody of the Pune police for plotting the murder of local BJP corporator Dheeraj Ghate at a local restaurant in Pune on the afternoon of September 3.

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The arrested men were identified as Vicky alias Vitul Vaman Kshirsagar (33), a resident of Sane Guruji nagar near Ambala canal in Pune; Manoj Sambhaji Patole (33), also a resident of the same area; and Mahesh Inderjit Agarwal (25), a resident of Lohia nagar. The men were arrested around 10pm on Tuesday by a joint team of unit three and unit four of the Pune police crime branch.

“We are looking for two more people in the case. The weapons they were carrying were quite deadly. The complainant had come to me after looking at the CCTV after the incident happened over suspicions about these men,” said Amitabh Gupta, commissioner of Pune police.

Kshirsagar, who is the main accused, is hopeful for his brother Rakesh Kshirsagar to win in the upcoming local body elections in Pune. The 33-year-old man also used to work for the BJP member whose murder he was arrested for plotting.

“The case has been strategically registered in the light of upcoming elections. The allegations are baseless and a case has been registered purely based on suspicion against the accused. The court has rejected the demand for seven days police custody,” read a statement from defence lawyer Vijaysinh Thombare.

The plot took place in a restaurant called Hotel Saffron on Shastri road in Navi peth at around 3pm on September 3. Kshirsagar arrived at the restaurant while Ghate was drinking tea – both with a few men accompanying them. The complainant submitted that Kshirsagar desisted from attacking him because Ghate was with multiple party workers and outnumbered his alleged potential attacker.

“The complainant tells us that the main accused probably believed that killing him would clear the path for his brother in the local body elections,” said commissioner Gupta.

After learning about Kshirsagar‘s intention, Ghate claims to have checked the CCTV footage of the restaurant where he was drinking tea to find that the accused were carrying a bag which was later found with deadly sharp weapons.

A case under sections 115, 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian penal code was registered at Vishram Bagh Police Station.