Pune DCP Krushikesh Rawale Among 22 Maharashtra Police Officers Honoured With Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak

Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 8th August 2026: Twenty-two Maharashtra police officers were presented with the Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak for Investigation for demonstrating exceptional skill in investigating serious and complex crimes during 2023 and 2024.

Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Sadanand Date presented the medals and commendation certificates at a ceremony held at the Police Research Centre, Pashan Road, in Pune on Saturday.

According to the official press note, the recipients comprised two officers of the Superintendent of Police rank, four of the Deputy Superintendent of Police rank, nine Police Inspectors, six Assistant Police Inspectors and one Police Sub-Inspector.

The Union government began presenting awards for excellence in investigation in 2018 to recognise police officers who display outstanding professional ability in criminal investigations. The award has since been included in the broader Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak.

The decorated officers investigated cases involving murder, armed robbery, extortion, illegal moneylending, kidnapping, sexual assault, child trafficking, attacks on senior citizens, cryptocurrency theft and other cybercrimes.

Their investigations involved the use of forensic science, CCTV footage, call-detail records, DNA profiling, fingerprints, digital evidence, blockchain tracing and other modern investigative technologies.

Congratulating the recipients, Director General of Police Sadanand Date praised their professional competence and effective use of modern investigative methods. He also wished them success in their future assignments.

Officers recognised for major investigations
Police Inspector Girish Ramesh Sonawane of the State Intelligence Department, Pune, investigated a disproportionate-assets case involving a senior town-planning official. Investigators identified 53 immovable properties, interests in 37 companies and approximately 150 bank accounts linked to the accused and family members. The investigation allegedly uncovered unaccounted assets worth more than ₹55.12 crore. A chargesheet running into about 40,000 pages was filed before the court.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Rahul Raosaheb Dhas of Rabale Division, Navi Mumbai, was recognised for investigating the murder of seven members of a family whose bodies were found in the Bhima river at Pargaon in Pune district’s Daund taluka. Police used mobile call-detail records, cyber analysis, forensic reports, DNA profiling, fingerprints and voice samples to identify the victims and establish the alleged conspiracy behind the killings.

Additional Superintendent of Police Abhijeet Suresh Shivthare of Raigad district investigated an organised armed-robbery case involving a gang allegedly active in Nashik, Raigad, Thane, Palghar, rural Thane and Madhya Pradesh. Three accused were arrested, stolen property and a pistol were recovered, and a chargesheet was filed under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act and other relevant laws.

Assistant Police Inspector Hemant Vijay Bendale of Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg Police Station, Mumbai, investigated an alleged illegal moneylending and financial-fraud case registered in Dhule. Police conducted simultaneous searches at five locations and allegedly seized property worth more than ₹22.66 crore. The seized material included cash, gold and silver ornaments, fixed-deposit documents, money in bank accounts, computers, digital video recorders and currency-counting machines.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Nitin Keshavrao Jadhav of Force One, Mumbai, investigated the murder of an unidentified woman whose decomposed body was found in a forest in Raigad district. Police identified the victim through local inquiries and mobile call records. Forensic examination of a vehicle, clothes, footwear, soil samples and bloodstains helped establish the case. The accused was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Sandip Baburao Mitke of the Nashik City Crime Branch investigated a case in which a minor girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and sold for commercial sexual exploitation. Police found that the accused were allegedly part of an organised criminal group with 24 previous offences registered against its members. A chargesheet was filed before a special MCOCA court. The officer also initiated measures for the survivor’s rehabilitation and vocational training.

Senior Police Inspector Shekhar Ramdas Bagde of LCB Crime, Thane, Detection-1, investigated the abduction of an 11-year-old boy for a ransom of ₹1 crore. Police formed four search teams and analysed CCTV footage, FASTag records and phone calls. Investigators traced the kidnappers to Gujarat and rescued the boy within 74 hours.

Police Inspector Utkarsh Ashok Vaze of Central Cyber Police Station, Mumbai Crime Branch, investigated suspicious deaths that were initially treated as accidental. The investigation established that a man and his elderly mother had allegedly been poisoned with arsenic and thallium ordered online. Police alleged that the man’s wife and her partner were responsible for both deaths.

Police Inspector Ankush Bhalchandra Chintaman of Bhadrakali Police Station, Nashik, investigated a case in which accused persons allegedly stole data from electronic devices seized in another investigation and diverted cryptocurrency worth several crores of rupees. Investigators used blockchain-analysis platforms and forensic tools to trace the transactions. Cryptocurrency worth approximately ₹6 crore was seized.

Senior Police Inspector Vijaysinh Ramchandra Bhosale investigated an armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Navi Mumbai in which ornaments, cash, mobile phones and a digital video recorder collectively worth about ₹1.39 crore were stolen. CCTV footage and call-detail records helped police trace the suspects to Rajasthan. Gold ornaments and bars valued at approximately ₹1 crore were recovered.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Jyotsna Vilas Rasam of Vakola Division, Mumbai, investigated the fatal assault of a woman on Khairani Road. Police used CCTV footage, fingerprints and digital evidence retrieved from a pen drive and digital video recorder to build the case. The weapon and clothes allegedly used in the crime were also seized.

Child trafficking, murder and cybercrime cases
Deputy Superintendent of Police Shankar Vitthal Shelke of the Caste Verification Department, Washim, investigated the theft of gold, cash, mobile phones and a motorcycle worth approximately ₹3.8 crore from a State Bank of India branch in Jalgaon. Police questioned bank personnel and searched the house of a suspect’s relative in Raigad, recovering the stolen property. A chargesheet was filed within 81 days.

Assistant Police Inspector Rekha Sagar Sankpal of the Criminal Investigation Department, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, was honoured for investigating an alleged infant-trafficking racket. The case began with the reported sale of a five-day-old infant through intermediaries.

Investigators recovered the child from Hyderabad within 24 hours and subsequently rescued 14 children. Eight accused were arrested in the principal case. The wider investigation reportedly resulted in 21 cases and the arrest of 95 people.

Assistant Police Inspector Siddhesh Dilip Joshte of Crime Branch Unit 3, Lower Parel, Mumbai, investigated a robbery and murder in which three men allegedly entered a jeweller’s residence, killed his wife and fled with gold ornaments and cash worth approximately ₹1.90 crore. Police solved the case within 24 hours and arrested all the accused within 72 hours.

Assistant Police Inspector Radhika Girdhar Bhavsar of the Civil Rights Protection Squad, Parbhani, investigated three cases involving the abduction of children. Analysis of mobile-tower data, call-detail records and bank accounts led police to identify an interstate gang. Eleven accused were arrested and five abducted children were rescued.

Police Inspector Sameer Prakash Lonkar of Unit 7, Shares Division, Economic Offences Wing, Mumbai Crime Branch, investigated an email threat demanding ₹20 crore from industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The sender allegedly threatened to kill him if the demand was not met. Investigators analysed information obtained from more than 50 internet service providers and traced the suspect through email, VPN and internet-protocol records. The accused was arrested in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Police Inspector Dinesh Tryambak Labde of Chimur Police Station, Chandrapur district, investigated a revenge killing in Nagpur in which a man allegedly abducted and murdered a member of the complainant’s family. Police seized the weapons, clothes and CCTV footage and filed a chargesheet. The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Police Inspector Pankaj Vinay Chakre of the Nagpur Rural Police Control Room investigated the murder of an unidentified man. Police examined mobile-tower data and CCTV footage from toll plazas along the Nagpur–Amravati route. Technical analysis helped investigators identify and arrest the accused within 24 hours.

Police Inspector Manoj Shriram Chaudhari of Lakadganj Police Station, Nagpur City, investigated the murder of a young woman who was alone in a hut when the accused allegedly attempted to sexually assault her. The accused allegedly strangled her after she resisted. Scientific evidence and CCTV footage helped police identify and arrest the suspect. The accused was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

Police Inspector Vivekanand Balbhim Patil of Cyber Police Station, Latur, investigated the murder of an 11-year-old boy at a temple in Nanded. Investigators collected scientific evidence, arrested the suspect and filed a chargesheet. The press note said the court sentenced the accused to death.

Assistant Police Inspector Umesh Shamrao Borse of the Economic Offences Wing, Nashik City, investigated the murder of an unidentified man whose decomposed body was found in a maize field in Dhule district. Police used the victim’s clothing, a state transport bus ticket and CCTV footage to identify him and reconstruct his movements. The investigation revealed that the man’s wife, her partner and two others had allegedly committed the murder. The suspects were arrested in Porbandar, Gujarat.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Krushikesh Pradeep Rawale of Zone I, Pune City, was recognised for investigating an honour-killing and double-murder case in Solapur district. The investigation involved CCTV footage, call-detail records, mobile-tower data, DNA evidence, ballistic reports and other forensic material. Thirteen accused were arrested. Five accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, while a lawyer and another accused received five-year prison terms.

Senior officers attend ceremony
The ceremony was attended by Additional Director General of Police Sunil Ramanand of the Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department, Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police Deepak Pandey of Police Communications and Information Technology, and Additional Director General of Police Suhas Warke of the Prisons Department.

Also present were Special Inspector General of Police Sunil Phulari of the Eastern Crime Region, Special Inspector General of Police Sudhir Hiremath of the Western Crime Region, Special Inspector General of Police Shrikant Pathak of the Economic Offences Wing, and Special Inspector General of Police Dattatraya Shinde of the State Crime Records Bureau.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Amogh Gaokar, Administration; Deputy Inspector General of Police Maheshwar Reddy, Economic Offences Wing; Superintendent of Police Shafqat Amna, Pune Medal Division, with additional charge of Law and Research; and Superintendent of Police Dr Dinesh Bari, Technical Services, also attended the ceremony.

Other police officers, the medal recipients, their family members and invited guests were present.