Speaking to the media on Friday, Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police, Pune Rural, provided details about the shocking rape and murder case of two minor sisters at Rajgurunagar. He also stated that the accused has been remanded to police custody till January 1.
“The incident that occurred at Rajgurunagar is heart-wrenching. It will be tried in a fast-track court. The police have done an excellent job by arresting the accused within just four hours after the report was filed at the police station. We have got police custody of the accused for five days. Our team is investigating the matter further,” Deshmukh said.
According to the information received, the police arrested a 54-year-old man for the alleged kidnapping, rape and murder of two minor girls on Thursday. The man, identified as Ajay Das, is accused of committing the heinous double crime against the two siblings aged nine and eight before he absconded.
The crime occurred on Wednesday when the two girls were playing outside their home around noon but later suddenly disappeared. The family, which was keeping an eye on them, started a frantic search in the vicinity but failed to trace them and finally lodged a complaint with the Khed Police Station in the evening.
Responding promptly, Police Inspector Prabhakar More formed teams to launch a systematic search to trace the two missing sisters but did not get any clues. Late in the night, around 10:30pm, the police and the family inspected the two siblings’ room on the upper floors of their building and made the shocking discovery.
The two girls’ bodies were found at Das’ home, in a drum filled with water, with their heads submerged and feet up, indicating murder by forcible drowning. As the discovery created a sensation in the vicinity, the case was handed over to Investigation Officer Snehal Raje, while the victims’ bodies were sent to the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune for autopsies.
Cracking down, the Khed Police launched a manhunt for Das and apprehended him from his hideout in a shady lodging house as he was packing up and preparing to flee Maharashtra. The grieving families, along with other relatives, staged a sit-in dharna outside the police station on Thursday, demanding that the culprit be given the death penalty, and refused to accept the bodies of the two little girls.
Meanwhile, Rupali Chakankar, Chairperson of Maharashtra State Commission for Women, said that the victims’ parents will get financial help from the government of Maharashtra and the Child Welfare Committee. “Police patrolling has been increased in the Rajgurunagar area after the incident. We have visited the spot of the incident, and accordingly, the charge sheet will be prepared,” she said.
“People need to inform the local police station about tenants who come to our area from another state, whether in Pune city or Pune rural jurisdiction,” she added.
