Contract killers shoot Pune police inspector at railway station

MEGHA MURKYA

22 NOV 2018 PUNE : A police inspector from Pune City Police Crime Branch suffered bullet injuries when they went to catch two men who allegedly shot dead a 32-year-old woman. When the team went to nab the accused at Pune Railway Station, they opened fire at them in which a police inspector was injured.

The deceased, Ekta Bhati, was a resident of Indrayani Society in Anand Park. The inspector, Gajanan Pawar, in-charge of Crime Branch Unit 2, who was injured in the shooting is undergoing treatment at Ruby Hall Clinic. He had bullet injuries on the jaw and on the chest near the lungs.

Two accused persons Shivlal Babulal Rao (38) and his son Mukesh have been arrested. Both are contract killers hailing from Rajasthan, who lived in Delhi.

As stated by the police, the family of the deceased is originally from Delhi. Ekta’s husband Brijesh had a vehicle insurance business post-quitting which he got into real estate and suffered losses, and finally ended up taking money from people who badgered him for the money. After some years he shifted to Pune and started a tiffin service in Viman Nagar and Chandan Nagar.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shirish Sardeshpande, one of the accused Shivlal claimed that Brijesh took his JCB machine worth Rs 8 lakh but was not paying him the amount even after repeatedly asking for it. Shivalal then came to Pune two days back and kept an eye upon the family’s activities. Bhati’s father and twin children, a son and a daughter of eight years, lived in the flat on the first floor , while he and his wife lived on the second floor. On Wednesday at 8.30 am, as usual his father made tea for all of them and asked Bhati’s son to call his parents (Bhati and Ekta). The boy informed his parents and came back. Bhati came soon, while Ekta was to come after sometime.

She was shot by Shivlal while she was coming down and the accused soon fled from there. She was rushed to the nearby Columbia Asia Hospital on Kharadi Bypass road, where after sometime she capitulated to injuries.

Police got a hint of the accused from the CCTV footage of the building, where he was seen leaving the building. After tracing their phone numbers they came to know that the were near Pune Railway station. They were to catch Jhelum Express to flee to Delhi. Policeman Mohsin Shaikh who was with Inspector Pawar identified Shivalal and Mukesh. As they made enquiries from the two accused, Shivlal shot two bullets at Pawar – one on the jaw and other on the chest near lungs. He was immediately rushed to nearby Ruby Hall Hospital.

Shivlal fled from the station but he was caught by people and police near Maldhaka chowk. Other accused, Mukesh was caught by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable Pradip Goyekar in Daund. He had escaped from Pune in the Jhelum Express.