‘Palande made calls to sister, two friends’

Apart from seeking stockbroker Gautam Vora’s help after fleeing police custody, Vijay Palande, the prime accused in the murder cases of senior citizen Arun Tikku and producer Karan Kakkad, contacted some close acquaintances and his sister, the police said.

Apart from seeking stockbroker Gautam Vora’s help after fleeing police custody, Vijay Palande, the prime accused in the murder cases of senior citizen Arun Tikku and producer Karan Kakkad, contacted some close acquaintances and his sister, the police said.

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They are all under the crime branch scanner. Palande was re-arrested from Churchgate station hours after he escaped.

During interrogation, the investigators learnt that Palande had contacted his sister from the Colaba hotel room where Vora and he had checked in using Vora’s mobile and asked her to come to the airport with his passport. “But she asked him to surrender to the police,” a crime branch officer said.

After Vora left for Oshiwara police station when Palande told him that the police might have summoned Simran Sood in connection with his escape, Palande called two friends, seeking help to flee the country,” the officer said. “One of them is a well-placed government official with considerable clout.” It is not clear what transpired during the talk.

The police have asked the hotel’s telephone service provider to dig out the call records to confirm whom Palande called.