Face covered, hands tied, gang leader in jail for grandson's murder files nomination for civic polls

Pune, Dec 27 (PTI) With face covered using a black cloth and hands tied, local gang leader Bandu Andekar, in jail for the alleged murder of his grandson, was on Saturday taken to a government office here, where he filed his nomination for the upcoming civic polls in Pune amid police security.

Andekar filed the nomination paper as an independent candidate, a day after a special MCOCA court in Pune granted conditional permission to him, currently in judicial custody in the murder case of his grandson Ayush Komkar.

His sister-in-law Laxmi Andekar and daughter-in-law Sonali Andekar, also accused in the same case, also filed their nomination papers as per the court's permission.

Municipal corporation elections in Pune and 28 other civic bodies in the state are scheduled to be held on January 15.

Andekar, with his face covered with a black cloth and hands tied with a rope, was brought to the designated nomination filing centre in Bhavani Peth area of the city in a police van from the Yerawada central jail. As he was escorted inside the centre, Andekar raised slogans in his own support.

Talking to PTI, his lawyer advocate Mithun Chavan said Andekar and his relatives filed their nomination papers as independent candidates at the Bhavani Peth ward office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Ayush was shot dead on September 5 in Nana Peth. He is the son of Ganesh Komkar, who is an accused in the murder case of former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) corporator and Bandu Andekar's son Vanraj Andekar.

Bandu alias Suryakant Ranoji Andekar (70), Laxmi Udaykant Andekar (60), Sonali Vanraj Andekar (36), all residents of Nana Peth, along with 15 others, are in judicial custody for their alleged involvement in the killing. PTI SPK NP