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Three weeks before gangster’s murder, lawyer knew assailants hatched plan to kill Mohol: Police
Many lawyers turned up at the court premises on Monday, like the previous day, prompting deployment of police force
The investigators probing Sharad Mohol murder case said the assailants had hatched a conspiracy to kill the gangster on December 15 and they contacted one of the arrested lawyers in the case and informed him about the plan. Among the eight persons arrested by the police in Mohol murder case, two are advocates - Ravindra Pawar and Sanjay Uddan.
On Monday, Pawar and Uddan were produced before the court on the expiry of their police custody amid tight security. The Judicial Magistrate (First Class) JM Chouhan extended their custody till January 11.
Earlier, assistant public prosecutor Neelam Yadav Ithape while seeking the two lawyers’ police custody told the court that during investigation it was found that the assailants had put new SIM cards, provided by one of their relatives, in their mobiles in the presence of lawyers. Lawyers also helped them to escape from Pune in their own car.
Defence lawyer SM Shah in his submission stated, “My clients were not present at the crime scene and they should be released as it is a bailable offence.”
Many lawyers turned up at the court premises on Monday, like the previous day, prompting deployment of police force. As lawyers crowded the place, court authorities ordered some to vacate the premises to ensure smooth functioning of the proceedings.
Some lawyers, in solidarity with their accused colleagues, resisted leaving, while others reluctantly complied with the judge’s directive. Later senior lawyers and senior office- bearers of the bar council intervened and requested lawyers to vacate the courtroom to make space available to produce accused in the court.
The court, once the space issue was addressed, continued with the hearing, with the prosecution presenting its case against the accused. Hemant Patil, senior inspector, Kothrud Police Station said, “We have call records of accused lawyers with other accused. It clearly shows that they were in contact with each other and after the crime they helped assailants to fled from our jurisdiction.”
Yadav-Ithape requested 5-day custodial remand. However, the court granted police custody till January 11.
According to remand report submitted by the prosecution to the court, the assailants and other three suspects held a meeting at Sutardara in Kothrud on December 15 to discuss the plan to eliminate Mohol. The same night, at around 9:19pm, one of the assailant called up advocate Pawar and informed him about the plan, according to the prosecution.
According to the police, the arrested accused including Sahil Polekar, Vitthal Gandale, Namdeo Kangude, Amit alias Amar Maruti Kangude, Chandrakant Shau Shelke and Vinayak Santosh Gahvankar had a meeting in Sutardara area. Police suspect that the accused hatched a detailed murder plan in the meeting.
ND Patil, another defence lawyer, said, “There is no progress in the investigation. Police custody can be granted for fresh discovery, which is not the case here.”
The prosecution stated that initially the accused halted at a petrol pump ahead of Khed Shivapur toll plaza where lawyers joined them and discussed their future course of action. “Knowing well that police were following them, they moved ahead and again stopped at a particular spot. They halted at three spots,” Yadav-Ithape said.
According to the advocate Pawar, on the day of the crime, he was present at the Shivajinagar Court when he received a call from advocate Uddan at around 4:40 pm informing about the incident and the accused seeking legal help. According to Pawar, Uddan was previously handling criminal cases of some of the suspects involved in Mohol murder case and therefore the duo decided to help them.
As per Pawar, he picked up Uddan from Kothrud in his car at around 7:30 pm and headed towards Pune-Satara Road. After reaching there, they suggested the accused surrender before the police. Accordingly, Uddan called sub-inspector Harshal Kadam and sub-inspector Chavan from Kothrud Police Station and informed them about the surrender plan. Meanwhile, the police raided and arrested them.
Pawar claimed that he even informed the same to the police when they reached to nab the accused and tried to convince investigators that they were there only for legal help. Pawar also showed his call records to the officials from Kothrud Police Station. According to Pawar, police initially assured they will not do anything, but later arrested the lawyers.
