Crime branch renews hunt for Thapa

NAGPUR: The police had Santosh Thapa twice in the recent past but let him off when they could not glean anything incriminating from him. Once they had got clear hint about his involvement in the murder of a teacher at Seminary Hills but there was nothing to back that up. The crime branch of city police has now renewed their hunt for Thapa after his name clearly surfaced in connection with two murder cases and housebreakings.
The arrest of Zakirshah Shabbirshah, 25, and Bapuji Balkrishna Maharana, 32, helped crime branch learn about the alleged involvement of Thapa in the sensational murder of housewife Poonam Pratap at Jagruti colony in February this year. In addition, Thapa's connection to the murder of teacher Ganesh Waghpanjar at Seminary Hills in June 2007 too surfaced during interrogation. The duo held, in fact, had no clue that the teacher, who was with a friend, had succumbed following their assault on him. The trio used to target couples on Seminary hills for robbery.
The culprits also ended up smothering Poonam when they were looting her house after tying up her 70-year-old mother-in-law Sundervati Pratap. Poonam actually caught them by surprise as the culprits had thought only Sundervati was at home. She had rushed to resist their attack but was silenced. The trio was also allegedly involved in housebreakings at KT Nagar and Shagun apartment.
The crime branch squad comprising assistant sub-inspector J N Tiwari and constables Vijay Gaikwad, Gajanan Peshne, Kishor Satokar and Pravin Gorate under senior inspector Madhav Giri have stepped up their search for notorious Thapa.
Interestingly, Zakir has confessed to have invested the amount he got from criminal activities in his properties. Police have learnt that Zakir had invested substantially in his under-construction house at his village near Warud. After committing a housebreaking, police said that Zakir allegedly `gifted' gold necklaces to his mother and wife.
Deputy commissioner of police, crime, Kishor Jadhav, presented the entire crime branch team behind the detections with commendatory certificates. "The modus operandi suggests that this is a notorious gang and may be involved in other offences," said Jadhav.