Pune ex-corporator's murder: Four, including his sisters and brothers-in-law, held

Pune, Sep 2 (PTI) Pune Police probing the brutal murder of former corporator Vanraj Andekar have arrested four persons, including his two sisters and their husbands, a senior officer said on Monday.

Prima facie, old rivalry, and family and property-related disputes are suspected to be the reasons for the murder.

Andekar, who was in his late 30s, was associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (undivided) before the Pune civic body was brought under state administrator.

A group of eight to nine people came on motorcycles and attacked Andekar in Nana Peth area at around 9:30 PM on Sunday. Some rounds were allegedly fired at Andekar. He was also attacked with sharp weapons on his neck and head, police said.

"We have arrested four people, including two sisters of the deceased and their husbands, in connection with the attack. Though the immediate trigger is yet to be probed, the primary investigation hints at an old enmity and family and property-related disputes," said Ranjankumar Sharma, Joint Commissioner of Police.

The accused have been identified as Jayant Komkar, Ganesh Komkar, Kalyani and Sanjivani. The arrests were made after family members of Andekar alleged the involvement of the four in the FIR, the police officer said.

He said the dispute between the two parties had reached a police station earlier on Sunday and preventive action was taken by registering a non-cognisable offence because it was prima facie a domestic issue.

Police formed multiple teams to investigate various aspects of the case.

Another police officer said the proportion of injuries caused by sharp weapons and a firearm would be disclosed in the postmortem report.

Speaking about the crime, Additional Commissioner of Police Pravin Patil had said that though witnesses had claimed some shots were fired, Andekar succumbed to injuries inflicted on his head and neck by sharp weapons.

"An empty cartridge was found in the deceased's clothing," he said. PTI SPK NSK