Pune cops detain three in NCP ex-corporator murder case

PUNE: The Pune Police have arrested at least three suspects in connection with the shocking murder of Vanraj B. Andekar, former Municipal Corporator of the Nationalist Congress Party, led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, officials said here on Monday.

Taken virtually by surprise, Andekar, 32, was targeted with at least five bullets and a chopper attack at around 9.30 p.m. on Sunday, when he stood chatting with a cousin outside his home in Inamdar Chowk.

He was rushed to the KEM Hospital but declared dead on admission and later his body was taken to the Sassoon General Hospital for an autopsy early on Monday, said Jt. Commissioner of Police Ranjan K. Sharma.

Moving swiftly, several police teams fanned out in different parts of the city and have apprehended at least three culprits who have been detained for interrogation.

Sharma said that as per preliminary information, Andekar succumbed to the stab injuries and not the bullets, but details would be clear only after the post-mortem report is received later in the day.

The CCTV footage of the chilling crime scene shows how at least 12-13 persons arrived on half a dozen motorcycles, one person in a yellow T-shirt openly brandishing a gleaming chopper, and his associates chased Andekar who had fled inside his home.

After the attack, lasting barely a minute as per the CCTV records, the assailants quickly sped off from the spot in different directions, as Pune reeled under the shock of another brazen murder in full public view.

“As per preliminary investigations, it is suspected that the murder could be the outcome of a family feud or business rivalry, but we cannot say more on the exact motives till the probe is completed,” Sharma told mediapersons.

Though Andekar has a clean image, several other family members have police records for various crimes in the city, and some kin have dabbled in civic politics as municipal corporators.