Pune: Court Remands Four Accused in Contract Killing of BJP MLC’s Uncle to Police Custody Until 20th December
Pune, 12th December 2024: Hotel businessman Satish Sadba Wagh was killed in a murder-for-hire plot, with a contract worth Rs 5 lakh. The tenant of Satish Wagh is alleged to have hired hitmen and orchestrated the killing. Today, all the arrested accused were presented in the Pune Cantonment Court in Wanowrie, which has remanded them to police custody until 20th December.
The arrested individuals are Pawan Shyamsundar Sharma (30, resident of Awhalwadi), Navnath Arjun Gursale (31, resident of Wagholi, native of Beed), Vikas alias Vicky Sitaram Shinde (28, resident of Wadholi, native of Ahilyanagar), and Akshay alias Sonya Harish Jawalkar (29, resident of Phursungi Phata). Pune Police are actively searching for another accused, Atish Jadhav.
Satish Wagh, the maternal uncle of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of the Legislative Council Yogesh Tilekar, was brutally murdered in a premeditated attack. Wagh’s son, Onkar, filed a complaint at Hadapsar Police Station. One of the accused, Akshay Jawalkar, who had previously rented a room owned by the deceased, reportedly harboured a grudge after a dispute forced him to vacate the premises.
Five months ago, Jawalkar paid Rs 5 lakh to co-accused Pawan Sharma to carry out the murder. Sharma then enlisted Vikas Shinde and Navnath Gursale to assist in the crime. On the morning of 9th December, at around 6 AM, while Wagh was on a morning walk on the Pune-Solapur Highway, the accused abducted him in a car and drove toward Saswad. They murdered Wagh with a knife and disposed of his body near Uruli Kanchan, within the jurisdiction of Yavat Police Station under the Pune Rural Police Force.
Initially, police arrested two of the accused, followed by the other two. All were presented in the Pune Cantonment Court in Wanowrie today. The police argued for custody, stating the need to investigate the planning, execution, and other critical details of the crime. Public Prosecutor Varsha Osalkar represented the government’s case. The court granted police custody of all accused until 20th December.
