Pune: Debt-ridden man kills woman for jewellery

PUNE: A debt-ridden tea stall owner operating in the Chatushrungi area befriended a married woman on a social media site some months ago. On June 22, he got her to wear all her costly ornaments, saying he wanted to take nice pictures of her at Tamhini ghat. However, he took her to a secluded place there, allegedly stabbed her to death and fled with her jewellery.
The Mundhwa police arrested the man, Anand Nikam (31) of Kalewadi, on Saturday.The police zeroed in on him after the 40-year-old woman’s call records showed that he was the last person she had spoken to before she was killed. Also, her cellphone was last in operation in the Chatushrungi area.
“We questioned him on July 10, searched his car and found the woman’s cellphone in it. A police team went to Tamhini and recovered her decomposed body,” said senior police inspector Sampat Bhosale.
Bhosale said the woman was a homemaker while her husband works in a private company. Her 19-year-old son lodged a complaint with the police on June 22 after she went missing. The woman also has another younger son.
Bhosale and police sub-inspectors Amol Gawali and Swapnil Patil cracked the case after going through the woman’s social media details and chats.
When questioned, Nikam told the police that on his request, the woman had come to the Chatushrungi area on her two-wheeler wearing her gold ornaments on June 22. He said that he took the woman in his car to the Tamhini ghat.