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