Woman and Two Children Murdered Over Love Affair, Pune Rural Cops Nab Killer

Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 7th May 2025: The Pune Rural Police, under the newly appointed Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill, have successfully cracked a gruesome triple murder case that had initially baffled investigators for nearly two weeks. The case, which involved the discovery of charred bodies of a woman and two toddlers in a remote stretch near Ranjangaon MIDC, has now culminated in the arrest of the primary accused—thanks to a meticulously coordinated investigation involving multiple districts across Maharashtra.

Gruesome Discovery Near Pune-Nagar Highway
On May 25, 2025, around 11:00 am, Ranjangaon MIDC Police received information about three severely burnt bodies—one woman and two children—found near the road leading from the closed Grovel Company to Khandale village, within the jurisdiction of Ranjangaon Ganapati. A case was registered as FIR No. 164/2025 under Sections 103(1) and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Assistant Sub-Inspector Gulabrao Yele filed a complaint on behalf of the government, marking the beginning of what turned into a complex and high-profile murder investigation.

High-Level Police Mobilization
Recognizing the gravity of the crime, SP Sandeep Singh Gill personally visited the crime scene and mobilized senior officers including Addl. SPs Ramesh Chopde (Pune Division), Ganesh Biradar (Baramati Division), SDPOs Prashant Dhole (Shirur) and Bapurao Dadas (Daund), along with Local Crime Branch PI Avinash Shilimkar and Ranjangaon PI Mahadev Waghmode.

Initial identification attempts relied on the tattoos found on the woman’s arm—“Jai Bhim,” “Rajratan,” “Mom Dad,” and “RS.” Over 250 CCTV cameras on the Pune-Nagar Highway, tenant records of 16,500 individuals, and data from Asha workers and health departments were scoured. Yet, the identity of the deceased remained unknown.

A District-Wide Intelligence Operation
With few leads and no CCTV coverage near the crime scene due to rain and remoteness, SP Gill initiated a large-scale intelligence operation. He convened a strategic meeting with representatives from all 33 police stations in the Pune Rural jurisdiction, assigning six teams comprising 28 officers to visit districts across Maharashtra under the supervision of SDPO Prashant Dhole and PI Avinash Shilimkar.

In a major breakthrough, a team in Beed district discovered a missing person’s report (Majalgaon Rural Police Station, No. 12/2025, dated May 9) that matched the victim’s description. Further investigation confirmed the deceased as Swati Keshav Sonawane, 25, a resident of Waghora, Taluka Majalgaon, District Beed.

Uncovering the Crime and the Accused
Swati had reportedly left for Alandi with her children—Swaraj (2) and Viraj (1)—but failed to return. Her husband Keshav Sonawane informed police that she had left Alandi on a motorcycle with Gorakh Popat Bokhare (36), a distant relative residing in Sardwadi, Shirur Taluka, Pune. Bokhare is a native of Chikhli in the Shrigonda taluka of Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar) district.

Upon questioning, Bokhare confessed to the heinous crime. Police revealed that Bokhare and Swati had developed a romantic relationship due to her troubled marriage. Swati was pressuring Bokhare to marry her.

According to police, due to a domestic dispute she had left home and came to stay at her maternal house in Alandi. Bokhare, who is the brother-in-law of her sister, came to meet her. On May 23, while returning from Alandi along with Swati and the two children, Bokhare diverted to an isolated path near the Grovel Company. There, he strangled Swati and her children, bludgeoned them with stones, and attempted to destroy the evidence by setting the bodies on fire using petrol.

Now, the accused Bokhare has been handed over to Ranjangaon MIDC Police. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded to police custody till June 11, 2025.

The investigation team included AHTU PI Vishwas Jadhav, LCB API Dattajirao Mohite, Nilkanth Tidke of Ranjangaon Police station, PSI Avinash Thorat, Savita Kale, Mahesh Dongre, Deepak Sable, Tushar Pandare, Janardan Shelke, Sanju Jadhav, Akshay Navale, Sandeep Ware, Vikram Tapkir, Nilesh Supekar, Raju Momoun, Atul Dere, Sagar Dhumal, Mangesh Thigale, Balasaheb Khadke, Ramdas Babar, Hanumant Pasalkar, Hemant Virole, Nilesh Shinde, Atul Farrand, Mahesh Bankar, Vinod Bhokare, Kashinath Rajapure, Gulab Yele, Dattatray Shinde, Vilas Ambekar, Vijay Sarjine, Umesh Kutwal, Vaibhav More, Yogesh Gund, Kishore Shivankar, Keshav Korde, Dnyaneshwar Shinde, Jairaj Devkar of Shikrapur Post, Amol Nalge, Vijay Shinde, Nikhil Rawade, Nitesh Thorat, and police personnel Akshay Yadav, Darshay Bansode, Mahadev Salunkhe, Ganesh Wankar, and Sumit Wagh of the Special Investigation Team who went to Beed district.