Thane: A Thane magistrate court on Thursday extended the police custody of two accused in the murder of UBT activist Pradeep Purnekar by two days till Saturday, after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) sought more time to complete interrogation and recover the remaining weapons.
Santosh Kanojia alias Talli and Amit Singh alias Paplu have been in police custody for 13 days, advocate Sameer Hatle, representing the Purnekars said. Purnekar, a UBT functionary from Manpada, was allegedly shot and attacked with sharp weapons on the night of September 29.
The family has submitted videos allegedly showing Shiv Sena functionary Rajendra Shinde instructing one of the accused to aim a rifle at a location in Pune to the Anti-Extortion Cell, along with a statement issued by the Prayagraj Special Task Force (STF), which arrested the duo, Hatle said. Jaynath said while criticising Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for not responding to the family’s pleas and saying that he was being “a mute spectator”. “We have presented crucial evidence, but the masterminds are still outside the police net. Why are they simply calling him (Rajendra) for questioning but not arresting him yet? Five accused have been arrested in the case so far.
Meanwhile, Shinde was summoned for questioning for the sixth time on Thursday, prompting the Purnekars to question why he was not arrested yet.
The family suspects a conspiracy, claiming the accused had no personal enmity with Purnekar and may have been hired to execute the killing, which is evident in the STF probe and the Prayagraj court observations also, Hatle told the media, adding that the same have also been presented before the Thane court.