Satara mass killings: Will it be Ujjwal Nikam vs Dr Death?

Keen to nail ‘Dr Death' Santosh Pol for the serial killings in Satara, the police now plan to rope in high-profile prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam for the case. The special public prosecutor has handled several high-profile cases in the past, such as the 2013 Shakti Mills gang rape and the 1993 serial blasts.

Also Read: 'Dr Death' Santosh Pol's wife: I never imagined him this ruthless

Ujjwal Nikam and (right) Santosh Pol

Confirming their intention, Additional Superintendent of Police (Satara) Vijay Pawar told mid-day, "We are keen to have Ujjwal Nikam fight the matter during trial in the Satara sessions court. We are in the process of approaching Nikam, and even our superior officers have expressed a similar view."

However, when this reporter contacted Nikam, he said, "I have no idea about this; no one has approached me so far."

A senior IPS officer attached to the DG's office said, "We haven't got any proposal so far. The matter is still being investigated and due procedure will be followed to appoint the prosecutor with due approval from the home department."

Read Story: Satara killings: Dr Santosh Pol's Ghom home helps unearth another body

Meanwhile, Pol and his accomplice Jyoti Mandre were presented in court today; she was sent to magisterial custody, while he will spend another day in police custody. They will be presented in court again tomorrow.

After hearing about Pol's hand in the serial murders, a local woman asked the police to investigate whether he had murdered her son - Tushar Jadhav, a wardboy who worked at Dr Gotavdekar hospital, where Pol worked as the ICCU in-charge. But after cops arrested the real culprits, they denied Pol's involvement. However, Pol's interrogation has brought other new points to light about the serial murders.

JCB connection
Most interestingly, the same JCB earthmover that was used by the cops to exhume the bodies, had earlier been used by Pol to bury the body of Mangala Jedhe (47). He had hired the machine for R700 for two hours. "He would gain the confidence of the owner, Agawane, by telling him that he wanted to plant a coconut tree and therefore needed a pit to be dug," said Addl SP Pawar.

Gold recovered
Pol informed the police that he looted about 5 to 7 tolas of gold from each of his victims, which he would then sell below the market value. However, he hit the jackpot when he killed jeweller Nathamal Bhandari in December 2015, and made off with nearly 20 tolas of gold. On Wednesday, a team from Wai police station recovered nearly 26 tolas of gold that Dr Pol had mortgaged with various jewellers in and around the village. The estimated value of the recovered gold is said to be over Rs 8 lakh.

Investigations also revealed that Pol stole R2 lakh from his relative Jagabai Pol, whom he killed in 2010 over a property dispute. After she sold the property and got a bearer cheque for R2 lakh, he stole the cheque and encashed it. Police said that so far, Pol does not seem to have any vices, and he used the plunder to build and improve his poultry farm.

FDA raids pharmacy
A team of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials from Pune have raided the medical store run by Unique Distributor in Wai. This store supplied to Dr Gotavdekar hospital, from where Dr Pol allegedly stole the killing drug. "Since the said drug is a ‘Schedule C' drug that cannot be sold without prescription, we want to check if prescriptions were shown at the time of purchase and whether the shop owner maintained proper records," said a senior FDA official.