Police investigations have revealed that members of Chhota Rajan's gang may have had a key role to play in the gruesome murders
Police investigations have revealed thatu00a0members of Chhota Rajan's gang may have had a key role to play in the gruesome murders
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Three days after the grotesque quadruple murders were committed at Kurar, investigations have revealed that the crew of thugs led by prime suspect Uday Pathak was working for several underworld gangs in the city.
Moreover, the local police were caught napping as the dreaded gangsters sought safe haven in Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Subhash Kotian
One of the key players in the murder has been identified as Babu Chintale, one of Pathak's chief cronies. Chintale had previously been a close associate of Bala Manjrekar, who was shot dead by encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar in 2007.
Other names are also cropping up in connection to the murders, which appear to have been meticulously planned. The names under the police scanner are Vicky alias Chor, Kishore, Laliya, Pakiya, and Jitu alias Bacchi, who allegedly worked for Chhota Rajan's gang as well.
According to statements received by the crime branch officers, the gang's original target was Subhash Kotian, a local resident, who was embroiled in an altercation with Pathak's younger brother Jitu, over a slum rehabilitation issue.
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Luckily, Kotian had managed to give his attackers the slip, darting into the crowded slums.
After their abortive attempts to nab Kotian and knock him off, the accomplices were enjoying their alcohol, when they had a scuffle with Sachin Dhuri.
After the irate and drunken gangsters had intimidated and threatened Dhuri, his friends took the gang by surprise by returning to launch a counter attack.
Slighted by the fact that his sovereignty had been challenged in his own territory twice in a single day, an enraged Pathak planned the sinister crimes.
Eyewitnesses told the police that the seething Pathak soon went on a rampage, molesting and assaulting two young women, one of whom happened to be his ex-lover, near Laxmi bar at around 8 pm.
"Upon accosting his former lover Roshni Sharma in the neighbourhood, he slapped her. The two argued, and Pathak assaulted and molested her and her friend," said Ramrao Pawar, additional commissioner of police (North region).
The duo rushed to report the matter to the local police, after which Pathak was picked up for questioning at around 9 pm.
After being let off in return for a meager fine, Pathak returned to his domain, determined to avenge himself Dhanaji Nalavade, senior police inspector of Kurar police station, said that the two women, Roshni and Sangeeta (names changed) had been called for questioning, in order to verify if they were cogs in Pathak's elaborate schemes to escape detection.
The crime branch is running a background check on all motley gangs in the city, which could lead to the early arrests of the wanted suspects, said Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Himanshu Roy.
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