A year after woman inspector went missing, police arrest Mumbai politician’s nephew

Patil’s arrest is the second in the case — on Thursday, police arrested Abhay Kurundkar, 52, a senior inspector, who they suspect had an affair with the woman

The Kalamboli police arrested one more person on Sunday, in connection with the case of woman inspector Ashwini Bidre, who went missing on April 15, 2016.

The accused, Rajesh Patil, 44, is the nephew of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse, police confirmed. (HT File)

The accused, Rajesh Patil, 44, is the nephew of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse, police confirmed.

Bidre, 37, lived with her family at Roadpali. Her family suspects that she was kidnapped and murdered. After the police failed to trace her, they approached the Bombay high court

Patil’s arrest is the second in the case — on Thursday, police arrested Abhay Kurundkar, 52, a senior inspector with the security branch of Thane (rural) police. Police and his family suspect he had an extramarital affair with Bidre.

They also found photographs and videos on Bidre’s laptop, which suggest that she and Kurundkar were close. Kurundkar misled the police, saying Bidre had gone to a Vipasana centre to learn meditation. Police searched Vipasana centres in Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, to no avail. .

“After getting some clues, we arrested Patil from Jalgaon on Sunday. He was produced before the judicial court and remanded in police custody. We will interrogate him to find out more,” said Rajendra Mane, deputy commissioner of police (zone II).

The police had earlier said that Bidre’s mobile was last traced to Bhayandar.

“We had summoned Patil for questioning on Saturday. We arrested him on Sunday evening,” the officer said.