Pune police arrest three in former NCP officer’s murder case

Pune (Maharashtra), September 2 (IANS): Pune police have arrested at least three suspects in connection with the shocking murder of Vanraj B. Andekar, a former municipal councillor of the Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, officials said on Monday.

Taken virtually by surprise, Andekar, 32, was shot at least five times and attacked by a helicopter around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday while he was chatting with a cousin outside his house in Inamdar Chowk.

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

Acting swiftly, several police teams deployed in different parts of the city and apprehended at least three culprits who were detained for questioning.

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

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

After the attack, which lasted barely a minute according to CCTV footage, the assailants quickly fled the scene in different directions as Pune reeled from yet another brazen murder in plain sight.

“According to preliminary investigations, it is suspected that the murder could be the result of a family feud or business rivalry, but we cannot say more about the exact motives till the investigation is completed,” Sharma told media.

Although Andekar has a clean image, several other family members have criminal records for various crimes in the city, and some family members have entered civic politics as municipal councilors.