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Police probe financial angle in Wagh murder case
On Thursday, the Pune crime branch produced Mohini before the Shivajinagar court, which remanded her to police custody until December 30
A day after the police arrested Mohini Wagh, 53, for the murder of her husband, businessman Satish Wagh, investigators said they are examining financial motives and allegation of an “illicit” relationship as possible reasons behind the crime.
On Thursday, the Pune crime branch produced Mohini before the Shivajinagar court, which remanded her to police custody until December 30. She is accused of hiring contract killers to execute the murder.
Seeking her custody, inspector and investigation officer Sudarshan Gaikwad told the court, “The motive behind the murder needs to be investigated, whether it was for financial gain or illicit relationship.”
According to Gaikwad, Mohini had allegedly paid ₹5 lakh to accused Akshay Jawalkar to arrange the contract killing. “We need to determine how much money was paid and the transfer mode,” he said.
The police told the court that the two accused, Navnath Gursale and Atish Jadhav, had disposed of the murder weapons in the Bhima River at Perne Phata and efforts are underway to recover it.
Special public prosecutor Amrapali Kasture argued that police custody is essential to uncover critical details, including the exact motive, the mastermind behind the crime, and the source of murder weapons. She said that the police need to investigate whether more suspects are involved in the crime.
Accused Pawan Sharma, Vikas Shinde, Gursale and Jawalkar have been sent to judicial custody and Jadhav is in police custody till December 30.
On December 9, Satish, maternal uncle of MLC Yogesh Tilekar, was kidnapped by five persons while he was out on a morning walk and taken in a vehicle towards Saswad. Within 15 minutes, the accused inflicted 72 wounds on the victim and murdered him before dumping the body in Shindawane Ghat. The crime branch arrested the accused based on CCTV footage.
