Ex-Pune API held for activist murder

In an ongoing investigation of the alleged murder of Satish Shetty, a social worker of Talegaon, Dabhade, district Pune, in January 2010, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the then assistant police inspector of crime branch, Pune (Maharashtra). This is the second police officer who has been arrested in the case.

The officer was produced in court on Monday and remanded to police custody till April 16.

The then API was allegedly involved in initial investigation of the case and conspired with perpetrators of the crime to create false evidence and produce fake eyewitnesses, implicating five other accused to protect the real conspirators and killers.

The case, earlier registered at Talegaon police station, Dabhade, Pune, was taken over by CBI on the request of the Maharashtra government.

Bhausaheb Andhalkar, the first inspector held in the case was from the crime branch department. He was arrested on April 5. Sources said that investigation revealed that the inspector had allegedly conspired with others, and fabricated and manipulated evidence to shield the real conspirators and killers. They added that when the CBI took over the investigation in April 2015, the investigating officers had to start from scratch owing to poor and biased investigation conducted by the Pune crime branch.

Mr Shetty, a prominent social activist, in 2009, alleged that forged documents had been used by IRB firms to get government land near Raje and Pimloli villages off the Pune-Mumbai Highway.

Soon after, he started getting threat calls but the police did not provide him protection. One day in January 2010, when he left home for his morning walk, unknown assailants stabbed him to death in Pune.

The CBI conducted a search in the premises of IRB Infrastructure offices in Pune and Mumbai.

The CBI team then arrested Deepak Gadgil who was an authorised signatory for a subsidiary group of IRB and 12 more accused.