Pune, April 9 A suspected contract killing in the Pune district of Maharashtra has led police to solve two previously unsolved murders, resulting in the arrest of two individuals with prior criminal records in the Khed taluka, an official said on Thursday.
The investigation began after the body of Dhananjay Maruti Ghewade (33), a resident of Rakshewadi village, was found on March 18 at an isolated location about 10 km away.
The victim had sustained severe injuries to his head and face, the official said. With no immediate clues and a lack of CCTV coverage at the exact location, police initially struggled to make progress, he added.
The local police station and the rural Crime Branch began parallel investigations, resulting in a breakthrough being achieved after footage from a camera installed near a junction connecting the interior road to the main village route was examined, he said.
Two suspects, identified as Lalit Deepak Khollam (38) and Nandlal Hole (31), both with criminal records, were spotted in the footage, Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill said.
Their movements were tracked across a distance of about 145 km using footage from over 100 cameras before they were traced to Vadgaon Nimbalkar and arrested on March 25 following a chase through a sugarcane field, he said.
During questioning, police found that Ghewade's killing was allegedly carried out on the instructions of Nilesh Sanas (34) due to a personal dispute.
"Sanas was subsequently taken into custody. Further interrogation of the accused led to the detection of two murders from November last year," the official said.
The probe revealed that Khollam was in a relationship with a woman, Rupali Wadekar (46), whose repeated monetary demands, along with those of her son Shrikant (21), allegedly triggered the crimes.
"Shrikant was lured to Khed, killed, and his body disposed of, while Rupali was later called to the area and murdered. Both accused are now in police custody till April 13," the official said.