Human intel helps police crack double murder case

Pune: Pune (rural) police’ informers and its decision to reward the person who provided information on those who killed two engineering students, Sarthak Waghchore and Shruti Dumbare, on April 3 proved crucial in cracking the case. The police has arrested two accused in the case, more than two months after the murders were committed. The police on Sunday said it had arrested the main accused and a day later on Monday, said that his accomplice too had been nabbed.

According to Vishwas Nagare Patil, special inspector general, Kolhapur range, “From day one, we were dependent on the intelligence of our investigation teams. Police teams have been there in Lonavala from day one. They created a network of local informers there through which, eye witnesses came forward. These witnesses helped the police crack the case.”

“Our teams have interrogated all criminals with records in Pune, Pune (rural) and Raigad areas in these two months. The police had tracked the prime accused in the first three to four days of the murder. Our team went to his house in Lonavala but he had gone to Ahmednagar, saying his sister’s daughter was unwell. He runs a vada pav stall at Lonavala and was interrogated twice earlier. But he is very intelligent and that is why it took time. Sunil Pawar, cyber expert in the SIT (special investigation team) rated this criminal since early days,” added Mr Patil.

The prime accused has three criminal records and was imprisoned for four months in 2016 in a case of robbery filed by the railway police.

Mr Patil said, “Another accused fled to Hyderabad after the murder and later, he went to his hometown Agra. Our team arrested him from Agra. Though he has no criminal record, he had run away with a minor girl from Hyderabad earlier. However, only a missing complaint had been registered in Hyderabad.”

“Besides electronic data including phone records and medical evidence, circumstantial evidence also proved helpful. Finally, human intelligence led the police to crack the case,” said Mr Patil. “Pune superintendent of police Suvez Haque had announced a `50,000 prize from secret service funds for the informer who would tell the police about the murderers. That proved useful in solving the crime. We got two eye witnesses. They had not seen the accused while committing the murders. But they had seen the accused with their clothes stained with blood,” he said.