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3 arrested for gunning down history sheeter near his residence
MUMBAI: A 39-year-old BMC garbage collector was shot dead by three men at Jayshankar Chowk in Kurla West on Wednesday night
MUMBAI: A 39-year-old BMC garbage collector was shot dead by three men at Jayshankar Chowk in Kurla West on Wednesday night.
Police identified the victim as Baba Pawar, a history-sheeter who had several cases against him. He was recently acquitted in a murder case.
Police took into custody three men—Abhijit Jadhav, Dinesh Pawar and Shubham Ghadge, all in their early 20s—after they surrendered at the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station on Thursday morning. Earlier, police identified the trio after reviewing CCTV footage.
However, the victim’s family claimed the arrested men are contract killers and that the actual mastermind, a ruling party worker, is yet to be arrested. They said they filed a complaint against him two days ago. The family cites personal enmity as the motive.
The victim’s brother, Raju Pawar, said, “Rupesh Pawar is the main culprit. He held a grudge against my brother for supporting a rival candidate in the elections. Rupesh, who contested on a ruling party ticket, lost by a slender margin. Since then, he had been eyeing revenge.”
He added that Rupesh recently threatened Baba after Baba intervened in a brawl between Rupesh’s men and one of our nephews. “On Baba’s insistence, our nephew filed a police complaint, which made Rupesh livid and led him to hire the contract killers,” Raju said.
Police, however, declined to comment on the allegation, stating they are interrogating the arrested trio to ascertain if others were involved. They said Pawar was shot by the three men around 9:45 pm at Jayashankar Chowk, Makadwala Compound, where he lived with his family.
The men fired two rounds at Pawar, including one at his head, as soon as he stopped his bike near his home after returning from a function with a friend. They also stabbed him several times with a sharp object.
“Baba was riding the bike and his friend, Madhav Ghadge, was riding pillion. Ghadge fled from the spot when the accused opened fire. Badly injured Baba was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, where he was declared dead,” said an officer from Vinoba Bhave Nagar police station.
Police registered a case under sections 103 (murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and relevant sections of the Arms Act, based on the complaint filed by Raju Pawar, the deceased’s brother.
