Pune: Three months after it was reported that three undertrial prisoners in a robbery case escaped from Katraj Ghat after they were excused to attend nature’s call, it has emerged that actually, the undertrials fled from outside Morwadi court in Pimpri. Moreover, the cops had brought them there illegally to meet their family members. To save themselves, the escorting policemen had concocted the Katraj Ghat story.
The same policeman, Head Constable Sanjay Chandanshiv of Pune Police Headquarters, who lodged an FIR with Bharati Vidyapeeth police station on April 11, has now registered an FIR with Pimpri police against the accused. But no case has been registered against the policemen for lodging a false FIR.
On April 10, Chandanshiv and three others policemen, SV Kokre, SK Khade and VA Mandhre, and a driver were assigned to escort the undertrials involved in a robbery case at Khandala police station in Satara, from Yerwada Prison to Satara. The five personnel and three accused left Pune at 10.30 am. As the next hearing was on April 21, the accused and the officials were returning to Yerwada. They stopped near Katraj Ghat and brought the accused to Morwadi in a private vehicle.
However, the accused, Raju Mahadeo Patre from Vidyanagar in Chinchwad, Santosh Machindra Jagtap from Morwadi and Santosh Chandilkar alias Lubhya from Mulshi, gave the slip to the cops.
The escorting policemen, fearing action, made out a story that they had halted at Katraj Ghat as the accused insisted on a loo break at 8 pm. Investigations revealed that the ‘loo story’ was false. After much tussle between police stations, it was decided to register the case at Pimpri police station on Friday as the accused had fled from their jurisdiction.
API Gajanan Kadale of Pimpri police said, “The accused are still on the run. We have registered an FIR as previous investigation by Bharati Vidyapeeth police found the place of escape is not Katraj but Morwadi court.” The officer clarified the FIR has been registered against the absconding accused persons and not the policemen.
