Dr Santosh Pol, arrested for the murder of 6, portrayed himself as a decent social reformer to wife Seema; aside from not making any outing with family in 12 years, she sensed nothing suspicious
Santosh Pol and wife
Pune: “I am shocked. I had no idea my husband was involved in such heinous crimes. I did not believe the police until I spoke to Santosh myself who told me he had done it. But, he did not tell me why. I believed he was a decent human being. I wanted to confront him as soon as I heard the news, but was afraid the police would arrest my son and me,” a shaken 39-year-old Seema Pol, wife of Dr Death Santosh Pol, told mid-day over the phone.
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The accused Dr Pol
She was grilled for four hours by the Wai police on Saturday afternoon after being allowed to meet Pol for a little while. The police had brought Seema and Pol face-to-face after he had pleaded with the police to allow him to meet his wife and younger son. Their elder son is in class VI at a boarding school in Panchgani. The police were hoping he would soften and reveal the motive behind the murders to his wife, but he said nothing beyond confessing to them.
Seema Pol, Dr Santosh Pol’s wife
Seema, along with her two-year-old son, had run off to her maternal home in Bhandup, Mumbai, as soon as news about Pol’s involvement in six murders started flashing on TV channels on August 12. Pol was arrested the next day from Dadar. Seema returned to Satara on Saturday after the Wai police summoned her to inquire about the gold and money that Pol had allegedly stolen from his victims. Her interrogation started at 1 pm and went on till 5 pm.
Sandip Patil, Satara superintendent of police, said, “We are investigating the case and prima facie we do not see Seema’s involvement. But, we are still probing. If we suspect that she could be involved, we will arrest her, too.”
In her statement to the police, Seema said, “In 2003, Santosh’s family met us, and we got married in 2004. I did not know anything about the other women in his life. He always told me that he was a social activist and we never once went for an outing. Once a year he took us on a pilgrimage to a nearby area. I do not know anything about the gold or money that the police say he has taken from the victims.”
On August 11, based on call records recovered in the case of the missing pre-primary school worker-cum-social activist registered with the Wai police station on June 15, the police picked up 25-year-old Jyoti Mandhare, a trainee nurse and associate of Pol. The police then arrested Pol on August 13 and they were produced in court, which remanded them in police custody till August 25. A senior officer said, “Pol is misleading us on most points because of which we have not been able to find a motive for the murder.”
Ambulance that Pol stole found at Mahim
The Mahim Police station has taken custody of an ambulance that has Dr Santosh Pol written on it that had been lying in Girgankarwadi. Locals, who said they had spotted in the area over the past 10-12 days since the news of the murders broke, informed the police.
Investigations revealed that the ambulance was owned by Dr Ghotvadekar, a resident of Wai. On July 25, Dr Ghotvadekar had lodged a case at Wai police station that his ambulance was stolen and police found out that it was Santosh Pol who had stolen it. Pol then donated this ambulance to the Ganrajya welfare society at Mahim early this month. The police are now investigating if there was any crime committed using this ambulance. They are also investigating if Pol committed any crimes in Mumbai and are checking the missing persons’ list in the city. DCP Zone 5 Parmjit Dahiya said, “We have informed the Wai police station. We will hand it over to them for further investigation.”
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