Guard suspected of killing Sena leader arrested in Bhiwandi

Shailesh Nimse’s body was partially burned in a car in the forest.

The Thane rural police have arrested a security guard suspected of killing Shiv Sena leader Shailesh Nimse, 43, (Shakha pramukh) by strangling him to death. The accused, Vijay Wakh,23, was taken into police custody after he visited his relatives to get money.

The murder accused was on the run from the police after committing the crime (HT Photo)

“Wakh had strangled Shailesh to death following which he went into hiding in Pune and Nashik by changing his identity. After we got information that Wakh was coming to Bhiwandi to meet his relatives as he has spent all his money and wanted more, we caught him and he later confessed to the murder,” said additional police inspector – Pramod Badak from the Thane rural.

According to reports of the investigation, Nimse’s wife Vaishali, 40, along with her neighbour Pramod Lute, 32, and three others are prime suspects in the case. “Vaishali had planned to kill her husband a month back and had also performed black magic on Shailesh but it did not work. Instead, she hatched a plan to bump off Shailesh and had paid ₹1.5 lakh to Wakh between April 5 and April 19. Shailesh and Vaishali were married for the last 21 years and has two daughters aged 19 and 14, and a boy aged 10. Vaishali reportedly knew about her husband’s extra-marital affairs. She reportedly claimed that he had forcibly taken her signature on divorce documents and had threatened to not give her any of the property,” Badak added.

On April 20, Vaishali Nimse went to sleep around 1.30am, the same time the accused Wakh came and strangled Shailesh to death.

They allegedly kept Shailesh’s body in a car and drove it to a forest area where they poured petrol and alcohol on his body and set it ablaze.

“At this time one of the forest guards saw them so they were forced to escape from the spot. A few kilometers ahead, the two wheeler Wakh was travelling on ran out of petrol and they had to stop to refill it. Later, their four-wheeler tyre got punctured and they had to stop by a mechanic to mend the tyre. After doing all this they fled to their respective homes”, said Badak.