In a dubious turn of events, the police did not extend the custody remand of Archana Puttewar, daughter-in-law and primary suspect in the contract killing of 82-year-old Puroshattam Puttewar, beyond the initial three days.
As a result, the police missed the opportunity to confront the two accused and cross-verify the statements that might be provided by Archana’s main accomplice in the case, family driver Sarthak Bagde, who was rounded up by the crime branch on Monday.
The police allege that co-accused Dharmik spent Rs40,000, while Bagde contributed Rs1.20 lakh towards purchasing the secondhand car used in running over Puroshattam to kill him. During the remand, Dharmik reportedly admitted to receiving Rs3 lakh from Archana and some gold for the murder. Police also recovered cash and valuables from Dharmik’s residence.
The crime branch detained Archana on June 6 and sought her remand for three days until June 9, presenting nine grounds, including her role as the mastermind and primary sponsor of the murder, as well as her connections to other suspects, including family driver Sarthak Bagade, and accomplices Sachin Dharmik and Neeraj Nimje. Archana, an assistant director of town planning, allegedly orchestrated her father-in-law’s murder over property disputes. She confessed to providing funds and gold for the crime. There are also rumours of a Gadchiroli politician-turned-land mafia having sponsored and masterminded the murder. Archana had earlier admitted to having promised help to Dharmik in procuring a bar licence through a kin after committing the murder.
Initially, the incident involving Puroshattam was misclassified as a hit-and-run, occurring on May 22 en route to Balaji Nagar. The Ajni police nearly mishandled the case by categorizing it as an “accident” under bailable sections, despite CCTV footage clearly depicting a speeding car striking and dragging the senior citizen beneath the axle. Although the car driver, Nimje, was arrested on the same day, he was released under bailable sections. After intervention from CP Ravinder Singal, the crime branch reopened the case. However, it appears that the case has once again lost momentum.
Senior Inspector Ramesh Tale had requested a three-day remand for Archana, asserting before the court that further investigation was necessary to determine the funds and valuables expended on the contract killing. However, Archana’s PCR ended abruptly.