History-sheeter held in Navi Mumbai; cartridges, pistol recovered

Panvel police, on Thursday, arrested a 38-year-old civil contractor-cum-history-sheeter for threatening a building material supplier at gunpoint to extort small-time

Panvel police, on Thursday, arrested a 38-year-old civil contractor-cum-history-sheeter for threatening a building material supplier at gunpoint to extort small-time civil contracts in Karanjade village.

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During the arrest process, police also recovered a loaded country made pistol with ‘Made in USA’ engraved on it from his house along with two rounds of cartridges.

The accused, Rajesh Kaikade, alias Raja, was released on bail in a 2012 murder case a few months ago during the lockdown.

Upon returning to his house in Karanjade, Kaikade soon got back to crime. He approached a building construction material supplier and demanded he get all the work contracts in the area.

“The accused brandished a country-made pistol in front of the complainant and threatened to kill him. After the complainant registered a case, we went to arrest Kaikade. We are probing if he has threatened other developers and contractors as well” said Shatrughan Mali, inspector at Panvel city police station.

When the police reached his house on Wednesday around 5 am, Kaikade tried to resist arrest. He did not open the door, after which police resorted to breaking it. Realising that there was no way to escape, he let the police officials in. When he was being detained, he allegedly hit his head on the window grill to hurt himself, police claimed.

Kaikade suffered minor head injuries.

His criminal history dates back to almost a decade and he has been arrested in heinous crimes including gang-rape and attempted murder as well.

In 2012, Kaikade was arrested along with his two brothers and another person for killing former sarpanch, Sada Sable, who was then the vice-president of Karnala Sports Club in Karanjade.

In 2009, Kaikade was also arrested in a gang-rape and murder of a 20-year-old woman. Kaikade and the trio, which included two minors, attacked the woman and raped her before strangulating her.

Officials said Kaikade was also booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) but has been acquitted in that.