Pune: Man gets marijuana planted in social worker's car to take revenge

Photo for representational purpose

A criminal conspiracy to implicate a Pune-based social worker in a drug case went up in smoke after cops became suspicious of the informer who tipped them off about the location of the marijuana.

As per a report in Pune Mirror, It turns out a developer accused of a Rs 1.18-crore construction fraud by the same social worker had gotten the drugs placed in his car without his knowledge by two history-sheeters, as an act of revenge.

Also Read: Pune Crime: 3 arrested for 'assaulting doctor' while visiting patient at Sassoon hospital

After getting an anonymous call about the drugs from one of these criminals, Vishrantwadi police had last Friday laid a trap for social worker Kashinath Jadhav (45) and detained him, and also seized 2 kg marijuana from his car.

Also Read: Pune Crime: Rs 6.7 lakh cash stolen from builder's house during renovation

A day later, after probing the case further, cops booked the trio behind the false case, including the developer and an informant who told them about the vehicle's location and contents. The alleged main conspirator is developer Kishor Patil, an ex-armyman who started a construction business after retirement. Since cops unmasked the plot, Patil has been on the run. Police also arrested Mitu Sonawane and Kishor Mote, both residents of Bhimnagar in Vishrantwadi.

In August this year, Jadhav and 10 of his neighbours at Sainik Residency in Vishrantwadi had filed a cheating and forgery case against Patil for selling flats and shops using fake documents and stamps of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) related to construction work. A three-storeyed building had been constructed there in 2013, despite PMC not having given permission for it.

On August 21, Khadki police arrested Patil, following a first information report (FIR) lodged by Jadhav and the other residents. Two months down the line, Patil was released on bail by the sessions court. In order to take revenge, cops claimed, Patil then hatched a criminal conspiracy to implicate Jadhav in a false drug case.

He sought the help of arrested accused Sonawane and Mote - the duo had the responsibility of keeping the ganja bags in Jadhav's car. They had already observed that one of the car doors had a broken lock, which they took advantage of.

As per the plan, Sonawane thereafter anonymously informed Vishrantwadi police on November 20 that ganja is being transported in Jadhav's car.

Jadhav and his driver were on the way to his home, when cops stopped the car at Bopkhel Chowk. During the search of the vehicle, police found the marijuana worth Rs 3.30 lakh hidden in the car trunk.

When they checked the social worker's background, their instinct told them that Jadhav may have been implicated in a false case. Police got suspicious about Sonawane's activities as he had called them twice to check on the status of the case.

When they checked his call details, Mote's involvement was revealed - and further, cops realised that they are both criminals on record of Vishrantwadi police station. Finally, during their interrogation, the duo confessed about the entire conspiracy hatched by Patil.

Deputy commissioner of police (zone 4) Pankaj Deshmukh said, "Accused Patil has been absconding since we booked him. The quantity that we seized is huge and it is not possible for a common person to make it available. So, we need to investigate whether Patil works as a drug peddler. We suspected a conspiracy when we verified Jadhav's background. Then, we checked call details from where we received the tip-off. Surprisingly, we found that the informer was continuously keeping an eye on our activities. We have booked the trio under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act."

Jadhav has been running the Jeevan Adhar charitable trust in Kalas, Vishrantwadi, since 2013; his wife and two children also help him with it. The trust works for the education of specially-abled young ones between the age group of six and 20 years.

About his close shave, Jadhav said, "I work for the society and do not have a single criminal case against me. This was a plan to spoil my life, just to take revenge for the fraud that I had brought to light. I was shocked to see the huge amount of marijuana in my car. It was packed very well and kept hidden so that the smell would not spread. The conspiracy was revealed just because of the efforts taken by the police."

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news