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Accused in Rathi family murder case arrested with drugs worth ₹3.5 lakh
The accused has been identified as Narayan Chetanram Chaudhari, 41, a resident of Bikaner in Rajasthan
The prime accused in the murder of seven members of Rathi family was arrested by Pimpri-Chinchwad police on Saturday with drugs worth ₹3,59,200.
The accused has been identified as Narayan Chetanram Chaudhari, 41, a resident of Bikaner in Rajasthan.
According to police, on Saturday, while patrolling along the Pune-Mumbai highway in the Wakad area, police saw a suspicious man and he was carrying a big white coloured bag. When asked about the same, he was trying to run away but police overpowered him and detained him.
During the search, police found 898 grams of Afeem drug worth in his custody. Police brought him to Wakad police station for further investigation.
During further interrogation, police came to know he was involved in killing seven family members of Rathi family to conduct a robbery in their house located at Paud Road in Kothrud area of Pune city on August 26, 1994.
A case regarding the same has been registered at Kothrud police station under case number 218/1994 under sections of 302,342,120(b),392,297,449 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On September 5, 1994, he was arrested in Rajasthan state. After the trial, the court granted them hanged till death sentence in 1998. Since then, accused Chaudhari was lodged in various jails in the Maharashtra state.
On March 27, 2023, the Supreme Court in its verdict said that accused Chaudhari citing he was a minor at the time of the incident and cancelled his death sentence.
As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the accused Chaudhari was released from the court after 28 years of imprisonment.
Ganesh Jawadwad, senior police inspector at Wakad police station, said, “After being released from jail, the accused went to his home town in Rajasthan where he met a man named Suganaram and as per his instructions, he came to Pune to deliver drugs.’’
A case has been registered at Wakad police station under sections 8(c),17 (K), AND 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and granted police custody till Wednesday.
