Mangesh Kalokhe murder: Raigad police arrest 2 key accused

RAIGAD: Raigad police have arrested two key accused for the alleged murder conspiracy by hacking to death Mangesh Kalokhe, the husband of Khopoli ward Shiv Sena councillor Manasi Kalokhe on Friday morning, by tracing their whereabouts to Nagothane after 26 hours of search operation by eight police teams including the local crime branch. The arrested accused are NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction activist Ravindra Devkar and his son Darshan. The police teams are searching for the other four identified accused, including the Raigad district NCP (Ajit Pawar) president Sudhakar Ghare, NCP's local spokesperson Bharat Bhagat, Ravindra Devkar's another son Dhanesh and activist Sachin Chavan, along with four unidentified accused. The murder motive is allegedly an outcome of political vendatta as in the Khopoli municipal council election held recently, Ravindra’s wife Urmila had contested on an NCP ticket from ward number 3 against Sena’s Manasi Kalokhe and had lost by more than 700 votes. Murder victim Mangesh Kalokhe's relatives have demanded to suspend Khopoli senior inspector Sachin Hire alleging that he had not accepted the complaint of Kolakhe after he returned from Tirupati temple on Dec 25 and learnt there was a death threat from NCP activists who were roaming around in the locality to keep a vigil on his movements while he was on pilgrimage. While, Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale of Mahad constituency has urged the Raigad SP to take disciplinary action against the senior inspector Hire.