2 more held from Maharashtra in Darjeeling bizman murder case

Kolkata: A Darjeeling Police team with the help of the Maharashtra police managed to arrest two absconding suspects of the businessman murder and loot case that had recently occurred in Darjeeling.

The arrested have been brought in transit remand and were produced at the Darjeeling Court where they have been remanded to 10 days of police custody.

The Darjeeling police team arrested one Sachin Chandrakant Deshmukh (42 years) of Vadagaon Sheri, Pune City and Gautam Prakash Mali (22 years) of Sangli, Maharashtra. “They have been brought on transit remand and were produced at the CJM Court in Darjeeling on Tuesday. They have been remanded to 10 days of police custody,” stated Pankaj Prasad, Assistant Public Prosecutor.

On January 12, the dead body of 52-year-old Pradeep Ojha was found in his apartment located at Goodie Road, below the Darjeeling Chowk Bazar. He was a jeweler and used to own a gold shop at the Chowk Bazar in Darjeeling. Valuables including a laptop were also missing from the apartment.

From the post-mortem report, it was evident that it is a case of murder and criminal conspiracy. Nitin Popat Kale (30 years) of Hivtad village, Sangli, Maharashtra and Ashitosh Irkar alias Atul (19 years) of Ghatla Chembur, Sangli, Maharashtra. Both used to reside in Mukhia Building, Beechwood Road, Darjeeling and were known to the deceased. Nitin is also in the gold trade and was arrested and remanded to police custody.

“During interrogation, they revealed names of the others. We have arrested two and one is still absconding. On January 8, the two arrested from Maharashtra had arrived and stayed with Ashitosh. Then they shifted to a hotel. On January 12, they went to the deceased house with the intent of robbery. While Nitin and his associate kept guard outside, Gautam and Sachin were inside the room. Nitin Kale is the main conspirator. Gautam is a history-sheeter in Maharashtra. We hope to nab the absconder soon. We are in constant touch with the Maharashtra police,” stated Ajay Kumbhar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling.

A gold chain and a mobile phone that belonged to the deceased have been recovered from their possession. The laptop is still missing.