RTI activist arrested in Sena neta’s murder case

MUMBAI: A Right to Information (

RTI

) activist was arrested on Thursday in connection with the murder of former Sena corporator Ashok Sawant.

Anil

Waghmare

(43) masterminded the killing, said cops. He kept tabs on Sawant’s movements for nearly two months and decided the location for the attack. Police believe the two men had a financial fallout.

Waghmare is the fifth person to be arrested in the case. So far, the

Samta Nagar

police have arrested auto driver Ganesh

Jogdand

, Sohail Dhodia, a 17-year-old teen from Pune who was involved in stabbing Sawant, and Vishal Gaikwad from Kalyan who sheltered the killers after they committed the murder. Waghmare was not

present at the crime scene but was in constant touch with another key accused, Jagdish Pawar alias Jagga, on phone. Jagga was in charge of executing the crime while Waghmare provided the back-up. Based on the information gathered by Waghmare, Jagga, another wanted associate named Abhijeet Mane, and the teenager from Pune lay in wait in an auto driven by Jogdand to intercept Sawant. “We were looking for Waghmare immediately after the murder as technical surveillance revealed he had been touch with the killers. Waghmare lived at Singh Estate in Kandivli west. But he found out that we were looking for him and slipped away. He was caught from Byculla station on Thursday and produced before a magistrate court on Friday,” a police official said.

Waghmare was acquainted with Sawant. He had been seeking information on a Mhadaowned property located close to Samata Vidyamandir, a school of which Sawant was a trustee. Police are investigating if he had blackmailed Sawant in the past. Waghmare does not have a crime record.

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