Two held from MP’s Jabalpur in Pune kidnapping-murder case; third accused flees

PTI, Nov 17, 2024, 10:24 AM IST

Two men wanted in a kidnapping case in Pune were arrested from a train in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur on Saturday, police said.

Police suspect the duo and their accomplice have murdered the victim.

Subham Sonwane (24) and Milind Thorat (25) were held from Godan Express train at Jabalpur railway station on input provided by Pune police, Jabalpur GRP station in-charge Balram Yadav told PTI.

Another accused Yogesh Bhame, a resident of Donaje village in Haveli tehsil of Pune, managed to escape.

Sonawane and Thorat are residents of Ahilyanagar in Maharashtra, the police officer said.

“The trio was wanted for allegedly kidnapping a man and suspected murder. A case was registered by Pune Police,” Yadav said.

The accused will be handed over to Pune police, he said, adding that the operation was conducted by officials of the Government Railway Police and Railway Protection Force (RPF).

The three are accused of kidnapping Vitthal Polekar, a 65-year-old contractor and deputy sarpanch of Donje village in Pune.

He was kidnapped two days back and his kin has told police the crime was carried out for a ransom of Rs 2 crore.

Pune police said some body parts have been recovered near a village close to Panshet dam.

“A DNA analysis will confirm whether the remains are of Polekar. We tracked two accused who were involved in the kidnapping to Jabalpur. They were planning to flee to Nepal. We had already arrested one Rohit Bhame in the abduction case. Old enmity may be behind the abduction and murder,” he said.