Pune: Deadline extended for filing charge sheet in Vanraj Andekar murder case

Pune: The court has extended the deadline by 30 days to file the charge sheet against 18 accused in the former corporator Vanraj Andekar murder case. The Crime Branch of the Pune Police filed an application in this regard before the Special Court of judge VR Kachare.

Investigation Officer (IO) ACP Ganesh Ingale submitted the application in the Special Court seeking an extension of the deadline. A case was registered against 22 accused, including two minors. The main accused in the case, including Somnath Gaikwad, Aniket Dudhbhate, Prakash Komkar, Ganesh Komkar, and their accomplices are in judicial custody in the Yerwada Central Prison.

The deadline to file a charge sheet in serious crimes is 90 days. It can be extended up to 90 days if a crime is registered under the MCOCA, said Public Prosecutor Vilas Patare.

The application, filed by the Crime Branch stated that the deadline should be extended for a thorough investigation in the Andekar murder case. Bank accounts of the accused were being scrutinised and a search was on for illegal assets the accused earned through the organised criminal syndicate. A technical analysis was being done of the CCTV footage in the case, mobile phones of the accused. The forensic laboratory did not send its report. An identification parade of the accused would be conducted in the Yerwada jail. Statements of witnesses were being recorded. Therefore, the deadline to file the charge sheet should be extended for a thorough investigation.

Vanraj Andekar was killed due to family, property and gang dominance disputes on September 1 near Doke Talim in Nana Peth. He was shot at and hacked with a koyta. Earlier, Andekar had fought with his sister Sanjivani, her husband Jayant, brothers-in-law Ganesh and Prakash.

The Komkars hatched a conspiracy to murder Andekar as they doubted that the civic body took action against their shop at the behest of Andekar. The police suspected that the komkars took help of Somnath Gaikwad, who broke away from the Andekar gang. Gaikwad’s accomplice Nikhil Akhade was killed by the Andekar gang. It was revealed in the investigation that Gaikwad and his accomplices hatched the conspiracy to kill Andekar to avenge the murder of Akhade.