Maharashtra: Footwear trader found dead with bullet wound at Satara

PUNE: The body of the 48-year-old owner of a footwear shop on Laxmi Road was found with a bullet wound in the chest and other injuries caused by sharp weapons at Padegaon village, about 80km from here in Khandala taluka of Satara district, around 10am on Sunday — 12 hours after he is suspected to have been kidnapped from the city by unknown persons.
Chandan Krupadas Shewani’s body was spotted in an open plot in the village by local residents who alerted the Lonand police. An empty cartridge and a note, purportedly written by the assailant(s) in Hindi, were found near the body. The note stated, ‘2 cr nahin diya iske liye bhai ke order pe thokana pada’ (He did not give us Rs2 crore, hence we had to eliminate him on bhai’s orders).
Officials from the Satara and Pune police told TOI that the note may have been deliberately placed near the body to mislead the investigators. They believe there could be some other reason for the murder than ransom.
Shewani, a bachelor residing with his parents and sister at Sadhu Vaswani chowk, had left his shop, Shiv Kailas Shoes, in his black sedan around 10pm on Saturday but did not reach home. His family members called him repeatedly but his cell phone was switched off.
After a futile search late on Saturday night, his sister, Sangeeta, lodged a complaint with the Bund Garden police in the early hours of Sunday.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Shirish Sardeshpande told TOI, “Shewani’s car was found abandoned near Maldhakka chowk. Prima facie, we suspect that the assailant(s) may have dragged him out of his car and used another four-wheeler to take him away. The reason behind the kidnap-murder is not known, but we are probing all angles.”
Senior inspector Shrikant Shinde of the Bund Garden police said, “We have started collecting CCTV footage along the route from Shewani’s shop till Maldhakka chowk to see if we can get some clue about who may have kidnapped him.”
Satara superintendent of police Tejaswi Satpute told TOI, “We clicked photos of the body and circulated them on the WhatsApp groups of different police units across the state. Within an hour, the Pune city police contacted us. We have registered a case of kidnapping and murder besides applying provisions of the Indian Arms Act. The case has been transferred to the Bund Garden police for further investigations.”
TOI visited Shewani’s residence where a relative said his parents were not in a position to speak about the incident. This reporter repeatedly called Shewani’s sister on her cell phone but it was out of coverage area.