Thane, Oct 12 A Thane court on Monday extended the police custody of Subhash alias Pappya Shinde, the first arrested accused in the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Pradeep Purnekar, by a day, while also sending two recently held suspects from Uttar Pradesh to four-day cop remand, said a lawyer.
Subhash Shinde is a Thane resident, while co-accused Santosh Kanojia alias Talli and Amit Singh alias Paplu were apprehended by a Thane Police team from Prayagraj last week.
A total of five individuals have been arrested so far for the September 29 night murder of Purnekar, who served as the Uddhav Thackeray-led party’s ward chief in Manpada. The other two accused are Nikhil Yadav and Nitesh Pawar.
Subhash Shinde, Kanojia and Singh were produced before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate SB Sable, said advocate Sameer Hatle, who appeared for the complainant in the case.
After going through submissions made by police and the counsel for the complainant, the court extended Subhash Shinde’s remand by a day and sent Kanojia and Singh to four-day police custody, he said.
Hatle stated that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case produced Kanojia and Singh before the court after bringing them to Thane on a transit remand from Prayagraj.
During the proceedings, investigators informed the court that the duo’s custodial interrogation was vital to piece together the entire murder conspiracy, specifically probing who funded their 13-day stay in Uttar Pradesh following Purnekar’s murder.
Police plan to conduct face-to-face interrogations of the arrested accused to cross-verify statements given by various witnesses, alongside looking into how logistical support, weapons, and getaway vehicles were arranged.
The ongoing probe has uncovered that one of the absconding suspects was provided with a new SIM card to maintain communication while keeping his original number inactive.
Investigators highlighted that accused Pawar was spotted with co-accused Subhash Shinde at around 8:45 am on the ill-fated day, immediately after which the latter went directly to Purnekar’s office and remained with him until the fatal attack occurred.
Prosecutors emphasized that the murder was a calculated and meticulously planned conspiracy executed with extreme precision.
Furthermore, authorities said a car seized during the investigation was allegedly provided to the killers by Subhash Shinde to facilitate both the execution of the crime and their subsequent escape from the scene.
According to police, half a dozen rounds were fired during the attack on Purnekar, of which two hit the victim. Three empty shell casings and one live cartridge were recovered from the crime scene. The attackers also assaulted Purnekar with a chopper (sharp-edged weapon) following the gunfire.
(PTI News)
