Kolhapur: One of the five accused in the murder of 14-year-old son of Sangli APMC director arrived at the Kavathe Mahankal police station on Tuesday evening with his wife, claiming they had consumed poison and that he had been falsely implicated in the case.
On June 11, a gang of five men had barged into the house of Sangli Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) director Maruti Bandgar and shot dead his son, Vedant, from point-blank range around 6.30pm, triggering panic in the city’s Abhaynagar SBI colony area.
According to the police, Sagar alias Nanaso Manik Chougule arrived at the station with his wife, Nikita, and started shouting that he had been falsely implicated in the murder case registered at the Sanjaynagar police station. “Chougule and his wife told us that they had attempted suicide by consuming poison, but we are unaware of where and when they did so. To ensure their safety, both were shifted to a hospital in Kavathe Mahankal and later referred to Miraj Civil Hospital after preliminary treatment,” inspector Pravinkumar Kamble said.
Chougule, a resident of Agran Dhulgaon village, is a life convict in a 2017 murder case and was out on bail. A case has been registered against the couple under Section 206 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to attempting suicide to compel or deter a public servant from performing their duty.
A crime branch officer from Sangli confirmed that both were now out of danger and under medical observation. “Chougule will be detained and subsequently arrested in connection with the murder case,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, police have yet to track down two other suspects in the case. So far, prime accused Nilesh Gadade and Atul Waydande have been arrested in the case. Both are in police custody till Thursday and will be produced before a court thereafter.
According to the police, the motive behind the crime was linked to a dispute over a contract for loading and unloading goods at Arag railway goods yard. The contract was held by Laxman Kharat, whose wife was allegedly threatened and extorted to relinquish it. Vedant’s father and grandfather had accompanied Kharat to the Jat police station to file a complaint against Gadade. Angered by this, Gadade allegedly went to the Bandgar residence and shot Vedant at point-blank range.
