Crime branch to conduct inquiry into stampede

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 22,2014
Mumbai: The state home department has told the city crime branch to probe Saturday’s stampede in which 18 people died while attempting to enter the Malabar Hill residence of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin and pay their respects.
    But questions are being raised about a probe by the police when its senior officials had themselves failed to anticipate the crowd outside the Syedna’s house.
    This is second such inquiry ordered by the home department. In 2012, an inquiry was ordered into the August 11 Azad Maidan riots in which two people died and 54, including 45 policemen, were injured. The riots, which started after members of a minority community had assembled to condemn the riots in Assam, had led to a loss of Rs 2.75 crore.
    Sources said the crime branch will form a team of three units headed by deputy commissioner of police Satyanarayan Choudhary. The inquiry will look into crowd mismanagement which led to chaos and a stampede. The police will also probe reports about text messages that were circulated urging members to pay their respects.
    Preliminary inquiries suggest that some community members had spread misinformation regarding the Syedna’s funeral through the messages. Atext message said that Maula (spiritual guru) had passed away and there was an announcement that the Janaza namaj (prayers) were set soon at Saifee Masjid. His body, it said, had been kept for deedar (pay last respects), and would be taken out of Saifee Mahal, Malabar Hill at 11.52 pm and reach Rozatut Tahera at Bhendi bazaar at 7 am on Saturday.
    The police said messages were spread among the community and 30,000-40,000 gathered outside Saifee Mahal. The police will check the source of the messages with mobile service providers and will also see if somebody played mischief.
    They will also check if there was a public address system as per additional commissioner of police Krishna Prakash’s instructions on Friday afternoon.

Software engineer may have been gangraped

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 23,2014
Mumbai: The city crime branch, conducting a parallel probe into the murder of software engineer Esther Anuhya (23), whose body was found in mangroves near the Eastern Expressway between Kanjurmarg and Bhandup, suspects it is a case of gangrape.
    The police said they hoped to get clues from her laptop and second cellphone, which has been missing. Sources said, “We have technical details of the laptop and cellphone and will track the accused soon,’’
    The police suspect the involvement of more than two persons. “After studying the sequence of events and the site where her body was found, it looks like more than two persons kidnapped, raped and killed her,’’ an officer said.
    Doctors have prima facie told police that there were injury marks indicating sexual assault. Her gold ring had been left untouched.
    He added that her body was found far away from the Eastern Expressway.
    The police suspect that the crime was committed somewhere and her body had been dragged to the site. They are looking for a few taxi-drivers, missing since January 5, the day she went missing from Lokmanaya Tilak Terminus (LTT), and are doing background checks on over 400 autorickshaw/taxi-drivers. They are also collecting call detail records of cellphone users in and around LTT that day.

Dead, jailed terrorists still CBI’s most wanted

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 25, 2014
Mumbai: The CBI refuses to learn its lessons. Two years after TOI exposed embarrassing errors in a CBI-helmed list of 50 most wanted terrorists India wanted Pakistan to hand over, the same mistakes are being repeated. Some criminals are dead, some are in jail, some have been deported, but for the country’s premier investigation agency they remain fugitives.
    Worse, one 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused that TOI established in its edition on May 20, 2011 as being in a city jail is still on the list of red corner notices for most wanted criminals issued by the CBI to Interpol. Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan was arrested by Mumbai crime branch in 2010 and handed over to the CBI. He’s still in Arthur Road jail.
    After the TOI’s expose in 2011, the CBI had suspended a junior inspector and transferred an SP and a deputy SP from the Interpol Division in New Delhi for the lapse.
    The Centre had instructed the CBI and all state police to verify the status of all most wanted and put in place a mechanism to update the information regularly. Precious little seems to have been done. Chhota Rajan on TV, CBI says it has no pic
Mumbai: The CBI is still listing as most wanted terrorists long dead or safely ensconced in Indian prisons. For instance, gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s aide Lambu Ahmed was deported along with a dozen other criminals, including Chhota Shakeel’s brother-in-law Arif Bhaijan, in 2007. Six years later, he is out on bail. But CBI’s red corner notice list shows he is absconding.
    The notices help Interpol, a global police body, trace wanted criminals in foreign countries and request for their extradition/deportation.
    The most wanted list still has the names of top terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, killed in a US drone attack in Pakistan’s south Waziristan in 2011, Dawood’s elder brother Noora Kaskar, who died in 2009 due to kidney failure in Karachi, and London-based drug baron Iqbal Merchant alias Iqbal Mirchi who died last April. Sources said the list has at least another half-a-dozen names of criminals from across the country who have died long ago. CBI sources said the agency doesn’t remove names of the “dead” wanted as they don’t have official communication on the criminals’ expiry. Kashmiri’s death was confirmed by the US and accepted across the world. London police and Mirchi’s family confirmed his death, but the CBI has turned a blind eye.
    Another major irritant is the lack of photographs of people mentioned on the list though they seem to be easily available to the media. Gangster Chhota Rajan is one of them. The red corner notice says the photo of Rajan is unavailable, but he is often seen giving live interviews on TV channels.
    “It is ridiculous the way the agency works. What happens (in the absence of photos) is often another man with a similar name is held by immigration at airports and innocent people are put through trauma,” said RTI activist Mehul Kataria.

We found Esther’s body, not cops: Kin

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 26,2014
Mumbai: Esther Anhuya’s family is upset over Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh’s statement in an interview that it was Mumbai police who found her partly burnt and decomposed body in Kanjurmarg. Esther went missing from LTT on January 5 and her body was found on January 16.
    Deepak Prasad, Anhuya’s brother, told TOI: “It was my uncle Arun Kumar and my father S J Prasad who traced her body to Bhandup with the help of a mobile service operator —a fact recorded in the FIR. How can Singh make such a statement?”
    Earlier Anhuya’s family had alleged that railway police as well Mumbai police did not take any initiative in tracing the body.
    Reacting to this, Singh said, “Two to three of our teams were trying to trace Anuhya after the call detail record showed us her location as Bhandup-Kanjumarg. Her family members were with one of our teams. As they were with the search team, they may have found her body. We don’t want to get into arguments as our priority is to crack the case. Our sympathy lies with the family.’’
    City police said they have strong leads in the case. At least two dozen auto and taxi drivers were questioned and some subjected to DNA tests. “We hope to crack the case in aday or two,’’ Singh said.

lahoria murder accused files 11th bail plea

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 31,2014
Mumbai: Suresh Bijlani, prime accused in the Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria murder case, has filed a bail application in the Supreme Court. This is the 11^th time Bijlani has applied for bail. The SC rejected his pleas thrice earlier. While the SC will hear the matter on Friday, Lahoria’s son Sandeep has filed an intervention application, opposing the bail plea. The crime branch will also oppose it saying if freed, Bijlani might threaten witnesses. “We are yet to arrest two accused, Mahesh Bijlani and Anuragh Garg,” an officer said.

CTV footage shows killed techie enter station waiting room

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 31,2014
Mumbai: The crime branch, probing the murder of software engineer
Esther Anuhya
(23), have found her images in the CCTV footage of the Lokhmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla. Anuhya is seen entering the waiting room.
    Anhuya went missing on reaching LTT on January 5, a day after she left from her hometown of Machilipatnam. Her body was found 10 days later.
    The police suspect somebody in the waiting room may have approached Anuhya and offered her a lift. The police have requested the forensic science laboratory to expedite testing all samples in the case. “Once this picture is clear, our line of probe will progress. If she was not sexually assaulted, a gang of robbers may have been involved,” added a senior officer from the eastern suburbs.
‘Take down cab, auto nos ferrying women’
    ome minister R R Patil on HThursday directed the police to register names and numbers of taxis and autos ferrying women commuters outside stations. He warned the police of action if these directives are breached. Patil’s decision came during a meeting with the delegation of Harmony Foundation, a social organization led by Abraham Mathai, to discuss security at stations in the backdrop of the Anhuya case.
    Patil also told cops to increase patrolling during late night train arrivals. “Ensure vehicle numbers are displayed inside cabs and autos.” TNN

city police chief quits, to fight polls

January 31,2014
Mumbai: City police commissioner
Satya Pal Singh on Thursday resigned from the IPS and is set to contest the Lok Sabha polls, reports Prafulla Marpakwar. The 1980-batch officer was due for retirement in 2015.
    Singh, the first Mumbai police chief to quit, told TOI, “I have resigned. I have three good offers. One from the BJP, the second from AAP and the third an international offer. I am weighing all options. I am keen to fight the LS polls from Mumbai or UP.”
Mumbai: Satya Pal Singh, who has quit as city police chief, told TOI that he was to decide on the party he would join.
    “Senior citizens and politicians are in touch with me. Certainly, I will contest the elections,” he said.
    Home minister R R Patil said, “I have been told that Satya Pal Singh has submitted his resignation. It will be forwarded to the chief minister. I have no information on his electoral plans.’’
    According to a senior BJP leader, Singh has in the recent past held brief interactions with former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and incumbent Rajnath Singh on his plans to contest the polls as the party’s nominee from UP. The Maharashtra-cadre IPS officer belongs to UP.
    “We expect the BJP will perform well in UP. Under such circumstances, if people of the stature of Satya Pal Singh join the party, it will enhance its prospects,’’ he said. Besides UP, the BJP has given Singh an offer to fight from Maharashtra too.
    Meanwhile, even the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has offered him a seat from Mumbai. “Singh has to decide on the party. In view of his image and outstanding performance, he will certainly be a winner,’’ the BJP leader said.
    If Singh opts for the BJP, he will be the second highprofile official to join the party. A month ago, former Union home secretary R K Singh joined the saffron outfit. He is all set to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bihar.

Woman wanted in US detained in city

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 12, 2014
Mumbai: A 55-year-old Indian national, wanted by the US for defrauding its government, was detained at the city airport on Friday after she landed from Iran. She allegedly illegally bought commercial and military aircraft parts from America and exported them to United Arab Emirates (UAE).
    Shahin Sabooni was detained by the Mumbai police’s immigration cell after her name flashed on the Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by the US through Interpol in 2009. Sabooni was produced before a holiday court on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody till next week. senior inspector of extradition cell Shalini Sharma told the court that the designated extradition court in Patiala had been informed.
    Sabooni is second person to be detained by the Indian authorities on the US’s RCN request. In 2012, Navi Mumbai resident Nikhil Koblekar who was wanted by the FBI was arrested here on the charges of hacking and password trafficking in the US. Koblekar is yet to be extradited to the US.
    “Sabooni has been detained under the extradition treaty between India and the US. We will soon start the process of extraditing her to the US,” said joint commissioner Himanshu Roy. The US government has also accused Sabooni of money laundering. The police said Sabooni has two passports—on issued by the US and other by Iran.
    A company owned by her brother in UAE is under the scanner for alleged export of aircraft parts from the US to Dubai and Tehran in Iran.
    The firm has allegedly exported these parts by evading probation and licensing requirments.

NO ESCAPE: Shahin Sabooni

Top Yash Birla group executive detained for possessing drugs

To Be Produced Before Holiday Court Today

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 11 , 2014
Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday night detained 31-year-old Amit Pathak alias Anand Vardhan, president, corporate affairs, of the Yash Birla group of companies after they found around 4.5 gm of cocaine in his suite at a five-star hotel in the city.
    NCB officials were busy recording his statement till late Saturday evening, after which, sources said, he would be arrested. He will be booked under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and produced before a holiday court on Sunday.
    According to NCB officials, Income-Tax authorities carrying out a search in the suite as part of their probe into the financial dealings of Yash Birla’s companies stumbled upon a packet in Vardhan’s baggage containing “some white powder.” They immediately called in NCB officials, who confirmed it was cocaine.
    Vardhan was then detained along with two of his associates: a peon, Dharma Rathod, and a personal security officer (PSO), Dilip Palekar. All three were taken to the NCB office at Ballard Pier for investigation. The peon and PSO were still being questioned at the time of going to press, and sources said Vardhan’s lawyer had not been allowed to meet him.
    Sources said Vardhan had admitted to having bought cocaine from a dealer purely for personal consumption. The NCB is yet to locate the dealer.
    Vardhan, an IIT graduate, is from Meerut and earns a salary of Rs 80 lakh per annum, sources said. He is one of Yash Birla’s confidants, the sources added. An NCB official said statements of I-T officials too were being recorded as they were the complainants in the matter. “Prima facie, it seems to be a case of consumption,” the official said. NCB’s zonal director Rohit Katiyar said, “We are in the process of recording statements of various persons in the case and will let you know as soon we make progress in investigations.”
    I-T authorities initiated a probe into the dealings of Yash Birla’s companies after they allegedly found improper balance sheets.
CAUGHT IN DRUG BUST AT A FIVE-STAR
Who
    Anant Vardhan (31), president, corporate affairs, of the Yash Birla Group, though his visiting card says ‘group president.’ His real name is Amit Pathak
Where did drug bust happen?
    At a five-star hotel in the city, where he had his suite for the past two days
How much
    4.5 gm of cocaine found in his baggage
Cost of 5 gm
    25,000 to 35,000, depending on how ‘pure’ the cocaine is (In the illegal local market the rate per gm is close to 25,000, depending on availability) WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Small quantity of cocaine
2 gm
Commercial
quantity
100 gm
OFFENCE
    Production, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, import, export or use of drugs
HIS OPTIONS
    An accused who is caught can refuse to give a statement. He has the right to keep quiet and not answer without consulting his lawyer
PUNISHMENT
    Small quantity | RI of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 10,000 or both
    More than small but less than commercial quantity
RI of up to 10 yrs and a fine of up to 1L
    Commercial quantity
RI of 10-20 yrs and a fine of 1-2L THE SEARCH
    The Income-Tax department searched his room as part of a probe into the dealings of the group’s companies, which the dept has been carrying on for the past one month. The dept has seized documents from the group’s many establishments across India

Lahoria case accused’s 100cr assets attached

January 11,2014
Mumbai: The Thane court on Thursday passed an order for attachment of properties worth more than Rs 100 crore of two absconding accused—Anuragh Garg and Mahesh Bijlani—in the murder case of Navi Mumbai developer Sunil Lahoria.
    The order comes just two days after Garg made an application in the court that he will surrender only when the Lahoria murder trial starts. In November 2013, the city crime branch had moved an application before the court for proclaiming them absconders. “The court on Thursday issued an attachment order of their immovable properties,” said Avhdoot Chavan, senior inspector of crime branch. On February 16, 2013, two men killed Lahoria outside his office in Vashi Sector 28. TNN

Thane cops almost named missing actress’ husband as prime suspect

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 9, 2014
Mumbai: Had the Mumbai crime branch not worked swiftly on the call detail report (CDR) of actress Alka Punewar, who ran away with her boyfriend after staging an elaborate kidnapping-cum-murder mystery, the Thane police might have named Alka’s husband Sanjay as the prime suspect.
    Some officers in the Thane police said there were reasons to doubt Sanjay as there were discrepancies in his statements. Moreover, while some of the relatives told the police that Sanjay, who was Alka’s second husband, was after her property and life insurance money, others said he wanted to get rid of her. Also, two weeks before Alka went missing, Sanjay had travelled to Pune through Khopoli via Phalasphe phata; it was in the valley near the same phata that the mangled remains of alka’s car was found, leading the police to believe that she had been kidnapped from there.
    But all the theories proved wrong with the police tracing Alka to Chennai where she had been holed up with her 24-yearold paramour, Alok Paliwal.
    Sanjay clarified: “I went to Pune two weeks ago for job interview. The Thane police, who studied my cellphone movement, thought I had gone to do a recce of the spot. They grilled and cross-examined me but my conscience was clear.”
    Alka and her boyfriend, who had been in Chennai for the past few days, were brought to the city on Wednesday. The Thane police, after taking down their statements, let them off. “Alka told us that she went away with Paliwal on her own accord and that the two were likely to get married shortly,” said ACP Ramesh Bhurewar. “After taking down their statements, we have let the two go.”
    To confirm it was indeed Alka, the Thane police had made Sanjay speak to her over the phone on Tuesday. “She shouted at me for going to the police and also reminded me that while leaving on December 27, she had told me to marry someone else who could take care of my two sons,” Sanjay said. “I don’t want to associate myself with her. I will shift from Kopri in Thane to save my sons’ reputation.”
WEDDING ON THE CARDS Alka Punewar clarified that she ran away with Alok Paliwal on her own accord. She also said that they were likely to get married shortly. After taking down their statements, the police let the two go

TWO-GETHER: Alka and her paramour Alok after returning to the city

‘Missing’ actress, 44, ran away with 24-year-old boyfriend

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 8,2014
Mumbai: Small-time actress Alka Punewar, who had “gone missing” from Thane over 10 days ago, was traced on Tuesday to Chennai, where she had eloped with a youth almost half her age after staging her abduction and possible death.
    Thane police have sent a team to bring Alka, 44, and 24-year-old Alok Paliwal, an MBA and software engineer, to Mumbai. It’s not clear if they will be charged.
    Alka, who has done bit roles in Hindi films like Bawander and Gadar, and a few TV serials, left home on December 27, purportedly for ashow in Uran. Two days later, her mangled car was found in a valley in Khopoli near the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
    The city crime branch cracked the case when Sanjiv Kumar Sonkar, a close friend of Alka whom they had detained on suspicion after going through call records, confessed. Alka and his friend Paliwal were in a relationship for a year and were desperate to get married. Alka’s husband Sanjay was proving to be a hurdle, so they hatched the plot to stage an abductioncum-murder mystery.
    After Alka’s cell phone was found near the wreckage, sleuths stumbled on a number that had belonged to Paliwal. Call records of that number led to Sonkar as well as Paliwal and Alka’s frequent conversations. The Thane police will decide after speaking to the duo whether they and Sonkar should be booked for kidnapping, misleading the police and criminal conspiracy. Alka’s phone helped unravel plot, cops undecided on action against her, beau
    The Alka Punewar case has been solved. Besides a missing person case, on Monday, a kidnapping and robbery case had been registered against unknown persons. “We are happy Alka is alive. Our team is questioning Alka and Alok in Chennai to find the truth. We will see what can be done in this case,” said Thane police commissioner K P Raghuvanshi.
    The city crime branch, which was running a probe parallel to that of the Kopri police, found that on December 27, Alka’s husband drove her to Anand theatre near Thane station in a secondhand Maruti 800 they had bought a few days ago . He left as Alka told him her driver would take her to Uran for a show. Alka met up with Paliwal and 25-year-old Sonkar there later and drove to Sonkar’s flat at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. They partied till late in the night before driving to Crawford Market, where Alka took a bus to Chennai and Paliwal and Sonkar drove to the expressway.
    They had a flat tyre at Palaspe phata before dawn and Paliwal used the break to send an SMS from Alka’s cell phone to her husband, asking him to send the resume of their son Pratik to an email address. They then drove to Khopoli and pushed the car into a 900-ft valley along with Alka’s cell phone. “Paliwal and Sonkar waved to truck drivers, informing them an accident had taken place. They vanished and the drivers informed the traffic police about the car,” said inspector Nandkumar Gopale of the crime branch’s property cell. Sonkar returned home, Paliwal united with Alka in Chennai.
    Alka’s phone was recovered and led to the unravelling of the plot. She had sent a text recently by mistake to Paliwal’s cell number, which had been suspended in July. “We got Paliwal’s number which is registered in Andhra Pradesh. We sought the call record of that number and found a number which made frequent calls to that number and both numbers were seen shuttling between Mumbai and Chennai. On further surfing we got another number, that of Sonkar’s,’’ said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police.
    Police picked up Sonkar, who cracked under interrogation. “We have handed over Sonkar to Thane police as the Kopri police is probing the missing and kidnapping case,” said Niket Kaushik, additional commissioner of police.
    When TOI informed Alka’s husband Sanjay Punewar of the developments on Tuesday afternoon, he broke down. “I had been searching for her like mad, but she has ruined my life as well as that of my children. I don’t want to be associated with her any more,” Sanjay said.
    Sonkar said Alka sometimes lied to her husband that she was going for a shoot to Bangkok when in reality she would rendezvous with Paliwal in Bangalore or Chennai. Alka had divorced her first husband and fallen in love with Punewar, a retired IAF officer.
LOVE, MARRIAGE & DHOKA CAST ALKA SANJAY PUNEWAR (44) | Primarily a stage actor, she’s worked in Marathi and Hindi movies (Gadar, Bawander and Tujse Lagi Lagan) and TV serials. She divorced her 1st hubby, with whom she has a 28-year-old daughter
Alok Paliwal (24) | An MBA and software engineer. Originally from Bangalore, he works with a multinational company in Chennai. Met Alka at a party and fell in love. Introduced Alka as Nikita to his friends and planned to marry her Sanjiv Kumar Sonkar (25) | Resident of
    Kharghar and Alok’s childhood friend.
    Alok drew Sonkar, who works in the maintenance department of a mobile service provider, into the plot. Sonkar showed Alok the Khopoli valley where they disposed of Alka’s car to make it look like an accident. Sonkar was certain the car would be gutted, making it seem like she had died
Sanjay Punewar (46) | After divorce, Alka fell in love with the ex-air force officer and married him. They have 19-year-old twin sons. He had been running helter-skelter to find Alka
HOW THE PLOT UNRAVELLED Dec 27 | Alka’s hubby drives her to Thane station and leaves as her driver would take her further. She meets Paliwal, Sonkar and goes to Khargar. Later, she leaves for Chennai, they go to Khopoli (see map) Dec 28 | In the wee hours, Punewar gets text from Alka’s cell (sent by Paliwal).A person identifying himself as Prashant calls up the family landline and asks if Alka has reached home. Punewar calls Alka, but her phone goes unanswered. Paliwal, Sonkar dispose of car in Khopoli and leave Dec 29 | Khopoli police call Alka’s brother Santosh Mishra, who is in Nagpur, and tell him their car has met with an accident Dec 30-31 | Punewar, Mishra and a few friends go to Khopoli, reach car. There’s no trace of Alka, but her phone is found 100m away
Jan 1-4 | Cops go through the call records of the phone and begin digging out the call details. They find Paliwal’s number and as well as that of Sonkar
Jan 5-6 | They call in Sonkar, who spills the beans after interrogation
Jan 7 | Cops speak to Alka
HAVE ALKA & PALIWAL BROKEN ANY LAWS? Thane cops are waiting to speak to both before deciding on their course of action Both are adults and nobody has been killed or injured in the case Sources said Alka, Paliwal, Sonkar could be held for misleading the police, criminal conspiracy and in the kidnapping & robbery case filed by Alka’s husband

COPS WHO CRACKED THE CASE Inspector Nandkumar Gopale, APIs Nitin Patil, Dilip Phoolpagare, Laxmikant Salunke and Dinkar Bhosle of the property cell of Mumbai crime branch

Alka Punewar’s mangled car that was found in a deep valley at Khopoli. Her phone was recovered 100m away

ISAPPEARANCE OF MARATHI ACTRESS

Kopri police now register kidnapping, robbery case

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 7,2014
Mumbai: The Kopri police in Thane on Monday registered a kidnapping and robbery case against unknown persons following the disappearance of Marathi actress Alka Punewar (44) last week.
    TOI had on Monday highlighted how the cops were treating it as a missing person’s complaint. The Navi Mumbai police had done a similar mistake while probing the disappearance of Nerul resident Sandhya Singh. The police registered a case of kidnapping and murder only a month after her disappearance, when her skeletal remains were found.
    Thane police commissioner K P Raghuvanshi said a special team would get to the bottom of the case. Sources said the team, comprising a deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner of police, would report to the police commissioner.
    The Kopri police recorded the statement of Alka’s husband Sanjay on Monday. In a fresh
FIR, he alleged that somebody had kidnapped Alka on her way to Uran and stole her laptop, a gold mangalsutra, bangles and rings, and a SIM card along with amemory card, deputy commissioner of police Ramesh Bhurewar said.
    The police are examining the role of two persons believed to have been with her when she left a party at Uran organized by her theatre group. A police team has gone to Pune to track down a suspect, while another is questioning Alka’s theatre group.
    The police said Alka had divorced her first husband, with whom she had a 28-year-old daughter. She later fell in love with Punewar, a retired IAF officer, with whom she has twin boys. The car that fell into a valley was purchased by Punewar a few days before the accident.

The Kopri police suspect Marathi actress Alka Punewar was kidnapped and then killed

Investigators suspect missing actress has been murdered

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 7,2014
Mumbai: The Kopri police in Thane probing the mysterious disappearance of Marathi actress Alka Punewar (44) suspect that she has been murdered. Claiming to have got some leads, the police said the fact that Punewar had gone missing for almost a week now and that the mangled remains of her car was found in the Khopoli valley indicated foul play.
    But the police have, so far, registered a missing person’s complaint and not a kidnapping case. Sources feel that it is a mistake on their part. Pointing to the Sandhya Singh murder case, the sources said that the Navi Mumbai police had made a similar mistake of not registering a kidnapping case when Singh went missing, and that impeded the investigation as cops do not get the authority to investigate properly in a missing person’s case. It was only a month later, after Singh’s skeletal remains were accidentally spotted, that the police finally registered a case of kidnapping and murder .
    The Kopri police, however, clarified that they would register a kidnapping case once they establish it. “It’s too early to comment as our teams are working on some leads. Once we get a clear picture we will invoke relevant Indian Penal Code sections,” said assistant commissioner of police Sandeep Bhurewar.
    The police also indicated that they were coming across new facts, which they were not told about initially.
    Initially, the police were reportedly told that on December 27, Punewar, who has done small roles in Hindi films and a few TV serials, left for Uran for a stage show. Now, it has transpired that she went to Uran for a party, organized by her theatre group, and from there she was apparently supposed to go to Pune and to Chennai after that. But a few days later, the mangled remains of her car was found deep in a valley at Khopoli near Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The police have formed two teams, of which one has gone to Pune to trace a suspect, while the other is busy questioning the members of Punewar’s theatre group. The police are also examining the role of two persons, who are believed to have been with her when she left the party at Uran.
    The police have also indicated that her husband, Sanjay Punewar, is not providing proper information. “During the probe, we have come across some new facts. We have found that her car was registered in somebody else’s name and that it was bought only three to four days before Alka’s disappearance. We also learnt that she had been to Bangkok a few weeks earlier. Sanjay claims that he does not even know the name of Alka’s driver. This is strange,” an officer said.
    But Sanjay alleged that the Kopri police were reluctant to probe the case and they swung into action only after TOI reported the incident last week. THE NEW FINDINGS
    On Dec 27, Alka Punewar went to Uran not for a stage show but for a party held by her theatre group
    From there, she was supposed to visit Pune and then, Chennai Punewar’s car was bought three to four days before her disappearance
The car was not registered in the Punewars’ name but in someone else’s name
HUSBAND’S CLAIM Alka Punewar’s husband Sanjay claimed that the Kopri police were not too keen on investigating the case. They swung into action only after TOI reported about it

Cops comb Khopoli valley for fresh leads on Marathi actor

Visit Palaspe Toll Naka For CCTV Images

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 6, 2014
Mumbai: The police along with locals carried out a search for four hours on Friday in the vicinity of the valley in Khopoli where the mangled car of missing Marathi actor Alka Punewar was found last week.
    Later in the day, a team of the Khopoli police took Alka’s husband Sanjay to the Palaspe toll naka and checked the CCTV footage to find out if anybody was with the actor.
    The city crime branch is conducting a parallel investigation in the case.
    Alka, who was on her way to Pune for a theatre show, went missing after a party in Uran. Sanjay told the police that usually an unknown driver would drive Alka whenever she wanted to go out for shoots.
    The city crime branch suspects known persons killed or kidnapped Alka. The police are zeroing in on two cell numbers from which she was called in the morning on the day she disappeared.
    “We fail to understand what could be the reason for Alka to send an sms to her husband at 4.30 am in the morning asking him to send her one of her sons’ resume to an email address,” a city officer said. “Her call detail report shows she was near Palaspe toll naka when she sent the message; after that there is no communication.”
UNSOLVED DISAPPEARANCE Alka Sanjay Punewar (44) is a side actress who has acted in Hindi as well as in Marathi productions. She has worked in ‘Bawandar’, ‘Gadar’ and ‘Tujse Lagi Lagan’ and a few TV serials. Her husband, Sanjay, says she is more into theatre and stage shows. She has two twin sons and is a resident of Kopri in Thane Sanjay Punewar holds up a picture of his wife, Alka
STORY SO FAR Dec 27 | Sanjay drops Alka in their Maruti at Thane station. Half-anhour later, Alka calls to tell him her troupe driver has arrived and they have left for Uran for a shoot Dec 28 | In wee hours, Sanjay gets Alka’s sms about her son’s resume. Later, one Prashant calls up Punewars’ landline and asks whether Alka has reached home
Dec 29 | Khopoli police call up Alka’s brother Santosh Mishra, who is in Nagpur, to tell him their car has met with accident in Khopoli on Mumbai-Pune E-way. Mishra calls up Sanjay and leaves for city Dec 30 | Sanjay, Mishra and some friends go to Khopoli. Police show them car fallen in 900-feetdeep valley, but ask them to come next day as it is dark
Dec 31 | Sanjay along with some local policemen reach mangled car. Alka’s cellphone is found 100 metres away

The accident spot near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Actress goes missing, car found in valley

S Ahmed Ali TNN

January 3/2014. (FP)
Mumbai: Alka Punewar, a small-time Marathi actress, who was on her way to Pune for astage show, has gone missing. What has baffled her family and the police is that her mangled car was found in a valley in Khopoli on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Tuesday.
    The police are zeroing in on those who had last called Alka on her cellphone before when she went missing. The police said Alka, who worked in some Hindi movies like Bawandar and Gadar and some TV serials like Laagi Tujhse Lagan had left her Thane residence on December 27 evening to go to Uran and then Pune, where her troupe was to perform. Unknown person had called up asking if Alka reached home
Mumbai: The Kopri police in Thane on Tuesday registered a missing person’s complaint and launched a search for actress Alka Punewar based on her husband Sanjay’s complaint.
    Sanjay said, “I dropped her in our car at Thane station, from where her troupe’s driver was to pick her up on December 27. Half an hour later, she called and said the driver had come and they were leaving for Uran.’’
    At 4.30am on December 28, Sanjay received a text from Alka’s cell requesting him to send her son’s resume to an email ID and she would call later. In the afternoon, someone called Prashant rang up Punewar’s landline and asked if she had reached home. The caller told Punewar’s son Pratik she had left after an argument and was not answering her phone. He then disconnected the call. “We called up Alka but the phone kept ringing.”
    The police on December 30 told Alka’s brother Anil Mishra, who was in Nagpur, to come immediately to Khopoli as their car had met with an accident.
    The next morning, Mishra arrived in Mumbai. “In Khopoli, the local police took us to the valley, but we had to return the next morning as it was getting dark,’’ said Mishra. The next day, they only found Alka’s mangled car. Kalpana Joshi, a family friend, said, “The doors were locked, there was no trace of blood or foul smell, indicating a decomposed body, and Alka’s phone was found 100m away with the SIM and memory cards missing.’’
    The police said the eight to 10 people who had last called Alka were not responding. There were doubts about how the car fell into the valley from the opposite direction on a one-way road. When TOI called some of those people, they said they were make-up artists and hair-dressers, and disconnected the call. Kopri inspector R I Kazi said, “We have summoned two persons who called her last.”
ACTRESS GOES MISSING Alka Puneware (44) is a small-time actress who has worked in some movies and television serials. Her husband Sanjay said she was more into theatre WHAT HAPPENED
Dec 27, 2013 | Sanjay drops Alka at Thane. Alka calls Sanjay and tells him that their troupe driver had arrived
Dec 28 | Sanjay receives a text message from Alka. A person calls up Punewares’ landline number to check if Alka was at home
Dec 29 | Khopoli cops call up Alka’s brother, informing him that their car had met with an accident
Dec 30 | Sanjay, Mishra and friends go to Khopoli but have to return the next day
Dec 31 | They find the mangled car (pic) and Alka’s cell phone around 100 metres away