Amravati trader abducted, set afire

Kirti Pande / TNN / Nov 7, 2007, 03:26 IST

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The residents of Amravati woke up to a rude shock after a businessman was abducted and later brutally murdered at Badnera near here.

AMRAVATI: The residents of Amravati woke up to a rude shock after a businessman was abducted and later brutally murdered at Badnera near here on Tuesday morning.
According to police sources, Premkumar Papalal Joshi (52), a resident of Bhagwannagar (near Frezarpura), owned real estate worth crores near Badnera railway station, apart from a spare parts shop at Railey plots area.
After closing his shop at about 2 am on Monday, Joshi was returning home, when he was accosted by the three motorbike-borne men as he reached Moti Nagar square. Rattled the by sudden appearance of the threesome, Joshi fell down from his bike.
The three accused then abducted him and took him to a flat in Khanna Apartments near Sai Nagar, where he was administered a tranquiliser, leaving him groggy. When Joshi woke up in the afternoon, he found himself tied with a rope, with none of his abductors present.

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At about 6.30 pm on Monday, the accused including Anil Patwardhan, Dadarao Indurkar and another unidentified person, returned to the flat, consumed liquor and forced Joshi to do the same. The accused then removed Joshi's clothes, poured petrol on him and set him afire. Joshi started shouting and pleaded to be released. His shouts were apparently heard by the residents of the first floor, who also spotted smoke emanating from the said ground floor flat.

Some residents rushed to the ground floor flat to rescue Joshi, but were intercepted by accused Patwardhan and Indurkar. The accused told the residents that they had set Joshi afire and that nobody should rescue him. They then tried to flee the spot, but the residents managed to nab Patwardhan and Indurkar. The third accomplice escaped. The residents then informed the local police, who arrested the accused duo.
Joshi was immediately shifted to Irwin Hospital with severe burn injuries. Sources said Joshi had suffered 97% burns and died during the course of treatment at 5 am on Tuesday.
In his dying declaration, Joshi told the police that the accused wanted him to sign blank cheques and even took away Rs 1,300 cash which he had in his pocket. In fact, even the police seized four signed blank cheques from the said flat. After getting his signatures on the cheques and getting information on his real estate, the accused set him on fire.
Police sources said that the merciless killing had its roots in a property deal between Joshi and the accused. It is alleged that Joshi had sold of a piece of land near Badnera railway station to the accused and received Rs 3 lakh for the sale. Joshi, however, did not hand over possession of the land to the accused despite repeated requests for the same. Irked by this, the accused abducted Joshi to settle the score.
Sources said Joshi and his wife Lakshmi had been living separately for the last 10 years over some domestic dispute. The accused, sources said, had conspired to take advantage of his domestic dispute to grab the money from his bank account.

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