PUNE: Datta Bhondve and his girlfriend, Sonali Jawale, brought
chloroform
from an e-commerce site to sedate former’s wife, Ashwini, before she was strangulated to death on Saturday night and her eight-month-old son, Anuj, was smothered.
The prime suspects — Datta and Sonali — were planning the murders for two months. They decided to order chloroform using e-commerce services before executing the plot because they did not want any retaliation, revealed the investigations of the Hinjewadi police.
Senior inspector Arun Waykar of the Hinjewadi police, who cracked the case, confirmed that the suspects successfully procured chloroform from an e-commerce website. “It was delivered at the doorstep of the suspects a few days before the crime,” he said.
A police team recovered the wraps and packing of the chloroform from the possession of the suspects after identifying their role in the crime.
There is haze on the legality of online chloroform sale. Amrut Nikhade, joint commissioner (headquarters), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said, “Chloroform comes under laboratory chemicals and hence, it is not considered a drug. It does not come under the purview of the department. We will have to see the labels and the utility for which it is being displayed for sale on the online portal to really come to any conclusion about any violation of law.”
Datta (30) of Darumbre village, his girlfriend Sonali Jawale (24) of Hinjewadi and their aides, Prashant Jagan Bhor (25) and Pavan Narayan Jadhav (21), were arrested on Sunday. Another suspect is at large.
The Hinjewadi police produced the arrested suspects in a city court on Monday. They were remanded in police custody till June 18.
Sonali has her roots in
Ahmednagar
. Jadhav hails from
Solapur
. The police said Sonali plotted the murder of Ashwini. Datta and Sonali wanted to marry after killing Ashwini.
Datta, a vehicle supplier to an IT firm, lodged a misleading FIR with the Hinjewadi police late on Saturday night. He later spilled the beans.
The police said the contract killers applied the chloroform on a piece of cloth and pressed it against Ashwini’s mouth and nose. She was strangulated after she fell unconscious.
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