Cop’s son killed,former girlfriend’s lover arrested

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IV) Sanjay Jadhav said Pratik was in love with a girl but she broke up with him. “The girl later fell in love with Chougule working with her at a private firm on Ahmednagar Road. She was also staying with Chougule for last few months,” said DCP Jadhav.

“Pratik was upset with this and called Chougule for discussing the issue on September 23. Chougule came in a four-wheeler,along with three aides – Khamkar,Mane,Asgekar – and driver Devdurge,and met near the airport,” said Jadhav. “They later took Pratik in their car to another place for food. On the way,there was a quarrel between Pratik and Chougule and as the quarrel grew,Chougule and his aides killed Pratik,” said Jadhav.

Police said the suspects then purchased some fuel from a petrol pump in Shikrapur and dumped Pratik’s body about 100 feet from the main road. They removed his clothes before pouring fuel on the body and setting it on fire. Police said the suspects placed Pratik’s underwear on his face,poured fuel over it and set it on fire in a bid to destroy the evidence.

When Pratik’s family lodged a missing complaint with Vishrantwadi police station,the police checked the record of calls made on Pratik’s cell. Some of the calls were traced to Ichalkaranji. Before the incident,Pratik had apparently made many phone calls to Chougule,a native of Ichalkaranji,currently staying at Wagholi. A police team led by assistant police inspector A M Kadam nabbed Chougule in Pune. Acting on a tip-off,the Kolhapur police arrested the other four at Ichalkaranji. R S Pawar,police inspector with Shivajinagar police station in Ichalkaranji said,“Vishrantwadi police spoke to us about the calls from Pratik’s phone. Based on that we gathered information and arrested the four suspects.” “During interrogation the four confessed to the crime and named Chougule. We also seized the four-wheeler used by the suspects,” Pawar added.

After interrogation,the police team went to Shikrapur and found Pratik’s body around 3.30 am on Monday. Police said investigation revealed that the girl who was at the centre of dispute between the two was not involved in the murder. Pratik was a first year computer science student of city college. Senior inspector Manikrao Akkolkar is investigating the case.