Daijiworld Media Network - Dhule
Dhule, Sep 28: A 31-year-old pregnant woman from Raigad was allegedly murdered following an internal dispute at a cultural arts centre in Jamkhed, after which her body was taken to a secluded mountainous area in Dhule district and set on fire, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Pinki Hanumant Katkar, 31, a resident of Raigad district. The case came to light after a woman’s charred body was found in the mountainous area near Gartad Bari along the Dhule-Solapur highway. A bottle containing an inflammable substance was also found near the body.
According to police, the vehicle used in the crime was traced to Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar district, where the Saptasur Cultural Arts Centre is located. Police and local crime branch teams then began investigating the vehicle’s movements.
The breakthrough reportedly came after investigators examined around 11 hours of CCTV footage covering nearly 20 km of the highway. A Hyundai Mobilio bearing registration number MH-43-AR-4070 was found to be suspicious. Technical analysis of the vehicle’s movements led investigators to Jamkhed and the Saptasur Cultural Arts Centre.
Police subsequently detained people linked to the arts centre and questioned them. According to the investigation, Katkar was allegedly assaulted at a house near Manjarsumba Chowphuli in Beed district following an internal dispute at the arts centre. Police said she became unconscious after the assault and the accused allegedly assumed that she had died.
The accused then allegedly placed her body in a vehicle and began travelling towards Rajasthan, police said. However, the vehicle was stopped near Gartad Bari in the Narwhal area of Dhule district. According to the police investigation, the accused allegedly poured petrol over Katkar and set her on fire at an isolated spot in a forested, hilly area before leaving the place.
Police have arrested four people in connection with the case. They have been identified as Sarfaraz alias Shafique Alim Momin, 38, and Arif alias Khujya Asif Sheikh, 31, both from Dharashiv district; Swati alias Aarti Ganesh Kurhade, 28, from Jamkhed; and Lakshmi Balaji Pawar, 30, from Dharashiv district.
Two other accused, identified as Farukh Sheikh of Dharashiv and Rohini Jadhav of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, are reportedly absconding. Police teams have been deployed to trace them.
Police said the investigation was carried out under the guidance of Dhule Superintendent of Police Vishal Anand, Additional Superintendent of Police Ajay Deore and Sub-Divisional Police Officer Rajkumar Upase, with Mohadi Police Inspector Shilpa Patil leading the investigation team.
The police investigation indicates that the alleged motive was an internal dispute connected to the Saptasur Cultural Arts Centre. The exact circumstances surrounding the dispute and the respective roles of all the accused are part of the ongoing investigation.
The case was reportedly solved within three days of the discovery of the charred body, with the CCTV footage and technical analysis of the suspected vehicle providing key leads to investigators.