Stories
Pradeep Purnekar Murder: Fled Thane to Goa, How Bhavdya Was Caught from Alibaug Dairy?
- •The murder plot of Shiv Sena Uddhav Thackeray faction leader Pradeep Purnekar in Thane was meticulously planned a month ago.
- •Police immediately arrested Papya Shinde, and later apprehended Nikhil Yadav and Nitesh Pawar alias Bhavdya from a dairy near Alibaug.
- •Nitesh Pawar alias Bhavdya has a criminal background and was the one who fired the shot and attacked Pradeep Purnekar with a sickle.
- •Before the murder, the accused closely monitored Pradeep Purnekar's daily activities and conducted a mock drill to plan the execution.
- •Pradeep Purnekar was a divisional head of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party in Thane and known as a close associate of former MP Rajan Vichare.
Key Questions Answered
Thane Crime Branch formed nine teams to search for the accused and interrogated individuals in contact with Papya Shinde to gather information on hiding places. Acting on a tip-off about a dairy near Alibaug, police raided the location and took Nikhil Yadav and Nitesh Pawar into custody while they planned to flee to Goa.
Pradeep Purnekar was a divisional head of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party in Thane and a close associate of former MP Rajan Vichare. His wife Vijeta and brother Jaynath, a former Thane Municipal Corporation corporator, had contested elections on behalf of the party.
Pradeep Purnekar's family staged protests and refused to claim his body until all accused were caught, with his son Ram Purnekar alleging that former Thane mayor Minakshi Shinde and Rajendra Shinde were behind the conspiracy. Ram claimed that Rajendra Shinde held a secret meeting with the attackers days before the murder, and that his father had previously received death threats.
