Pune: Photo taken at Shivbhojan Thali centre and bluetooth device at crime scene help Hinjawadi police nab murder suspect who faked his own death

On Dec 21, 2020

Pune: Hinjawadi police have arrested one Mehboob Dastgir Shaikh, a resident of Wakad on charges of murdering another resident of Pimpri. Shaikh allegedly murdered the victim in order to fake his own death and escape debt recovery of crores of rupees which he had taken as loan from several people.

Interestingly, a bluetooth device and a photo taken at the Shivbhojan thali centre at Vallabhnagar ST stand is what led the police to zero in on Mehboob after identifying the deceased person as Sandeep Pundalik Mainkar, a resident of Mhada society in Sant Tukaram Nagar, Pimpri.

The murder case

Hinjawadi police had on November 29 at around 11am received an information that a half-burnt dead body has been found near Udanshahwali Dargah in Baner at the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway.

Police had recovered a small piece of paper in the pant worn by the deceased person. On basis of that paper, police ascertained the identity of the deceased as Sandeep Mainkar. Investigations revealed that Mainkar was addicted to alcohol and used to stay in Pimpri area. Police were unable to find the exact reason behind his murder. Further investigation revealed that Mainkar used to visit the Shivbhojan Thali centre at Vallabhnagar ST stand regularly.

Crucial leads

The Shivbhojan Thali centre is known for taking photographs of every customer and hence police checked all the records there. They found that on November 23, the Mainkar had his lunch there.

Police revisited the crime scene and found a wireless bluetooth device nearby. The owner of bluetooth device was a resident of Wakad and was missing from past few days according to the report filled in Wakad police station.

Suspect identified

Hinjawadi police then started looking for missing person information and complaints lodged within the Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Commissionerate. They zeroed in on one person named Mehoboob Dastgir Shaikh, a resident of Saishraddha Colony, Rajwadenagar in Kalewadi. He had gone missing mysteriously.

Primary investigation revealed that Mehboob had two wives and the first wife had filed a complaint about her missing husband in Wakad police station. Second wife of Mehboob was missing too. With the help of mobile location and other technical information, Mehboob Shaikh was located in Delhi.

A team of Hijawadi Police station reached Delhi immediately but they could not trace him. Hinjawdi police then checked the list of passengers at Delhi Railway Station which revealed that Mehboob was travelling back to Pune with his second wife. Police then laid a trap at the Daund railway station and nabbed him there.

After interrogating Mehboob, he revealed that he had taken a huge amount of money from various people and to escape recovery he had planned to kill someone and fake his own death. A 100 rupees stamp paper was also seized from Mehboob’s possession. He had written on the paper that ‘I’m a bankrupt and so I have decided to end my life. My dead body would be found in the nearby premises of Baner.’

The Hinjwadi Police Team
Senior Police Inspector Balakrishna Sawant, Inspector Ajay Jogdand, Assistant Inspector Uddhav Khade, Sagar Kate and their staff Bandu Marne, Kiran Pawar, Mahesh Waybase, Aatik Shaikh, Hanumant Kumbhar, Kunal Shinde, Ganesh Shinde, Vijay Ghadge, Ritesh Koli, Chandrakant Gadade, Karbhari Palave, Shrikant Chavan, Amar Rane, Subhash Gurav, Dattatray Shinde, Zhanak Gumladu and others

Crime Branch Unit IV Team

Police Inspector Prasad Gokule, Assistant Inspector Amrish Deshmukh and their staff Ajinath Obase, Govind Chavan, Mohammad Nadaf, Pravin Dale.

Technical Analysis Team

Police constables Subhash Gurav, Prashant Saeed, Shankar Chinchkar and Mali.