Lonavla double murder case cracked with one more arrest

Pune rural police, investigating the murder of Sarthak Waghchore and Shruti Dumbre, whose naked and mutilated bodies were found in a spot between Bhushi dam and INS Shivaji in Lonavla, said they have cracked the case with another arrest

The stripped bodies of Sarthak Waghchore and Shruti Dumbre were found in April at Lonavla

The Pune rural police, investigating the murder of collegians Sarthak Waghchore and Shruti Dumbre, whose naked and mutilated bodies were found in a spot between Bhushi dam and INS Shivaji in Lonavla on April 3, said they have cracked the case with the arrest of the second accused Asif Shaikh (28), who was picked up from Agra. On Sunday, Saleem Shaikh (22) was arrested. Both have been sent to police custody till June 16.

The police said their case became strong after two eyewitnesses came forward; until now, no one had been spoken up because Saleem is said to be associated with notorious goon, Kiran Pardeshi. While one witness had seen one of the accused cleaning bloodstains from his clothes, another had heard the co-accused describing the murder during a phone call.

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The police have now identified around 650 spots across the district and deployed eve-teasing squads that will patrol the areas on bicycles, motorbikes and on foot.

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Inspector general of police (Kolhapur range) Vishwas Nagare-Patil said, 'Initially, when our team had grilled Saleem, we had failed to get anything out of him. But Sub-Inspector Anirudha Gije and Constable Amar Thosar followed up on it. Saleem had claimed to be at his sister’s house in Ahmednagar, which was found to be false. With the help of the two eyewitnesses, we zeroed down on him.'

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'Their modus operandi was to visit isolated spots at night, snatch couples’ mobile phones and strip them naked, so that they wouldn’t approach anyone for help,' he added.

650 Eve-teasing hotspots where cops will patrol

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