In a chilling case of premeditated murder, Pune City Police have apprehended four individuals, including two minors, for the alleged abduction and killing of a 17-year-old boy. The crime, rooted in an old rivalry, saw the victim lured to his death using a deceptive social media profile of a girl.
The Disappearance and Investigation
The victim, Amansingh (17), a private painter, left his home in Tingrenagar, Vishrantwadi, on the morning of December 29 on his scooter, telling his family he was heading to work. When he failed to return, his family initiated searches and eventually his mother, Anita Surendrasing Gachand (44), lodged a formal missing person complaint with the Vishrantwadi police on December 31.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nikhil Pingale stated that the complaint was immediately treated as a potential kidnapping case since the victim was a minor. A specialized team from the crime branch, led by Inspector Sampatrao Raut and Assistant Inspector Mahesh Bhosale, began investigating. They meticulously traced the victim's movements on the day he vanished through his cellphone details, which ultimately led them to the Katraj area.
The Deceptive Trap and Gruesome Murder
The investigation revealed a calculated plot. The suspects used a social media platform, operating under the guise of a girl's profile, to befriend Amansingh. After building a rapport through chats, the fake profile requested a meeting in Katraj. Trusting the online persona, the victim rode his scooter to the specified spot on December 29.
"The two arrested youths told us that they intercepted him in Katraj and took him to a hilly area in Khed-Shivapur," DCP Pingale explained. There, they allegedly assaulted the 17-year-old with stones and billhooks (a type of cutting tool). The motive, as confessed by the accused, was an old grudge. "The suspects told us that the deceased troubled them when he stayed in the Shivane area. They wanted to take revenge and plotted his murder," Pingale added.
In a bid to destroy evidence, the accused then dug a pit at the hillside site and buried Amansingh's body. Police officials had to request the presence of the local tehsildar during the exhumation process for legal formalities.
Arrests and Ongoing Probe
The police team successfully tracked and arrested the two prime accused, identified as Prathamesh Chindu Adhal (19) and Nagesh Balaji Dhabale (19), both residents of Shivane, from Belagavi in Karnataka. Additionally, two minors, aged 16 and 17 years, were detained for their involvement in the crime.
On Tuesday afternoon, the two arrested adults were produced before a court, which remanded them in police custody until January 9. The two minors have been shifted to an observation home. A key aspect of the ongoing investigation is to verify the identity of the girl whose social media account was used or to determine if she willingly provided her account for executing the crime. "We are verifying the details of the girl who used the social media account or gave her account to someone else to use it to execute the crime," DCP Pingale confirmed.
Inspector Raut provided further context, noting that the Gachand family had moved from Shivane to Tingrenagar in Vishrantwadi only about 15 days prior to the incident, indicating that the rivalry stemmed from their previous residence.
