Shiv Sena leader shot at, Two more arrested cops suspect gangster link

A screenshot of the CCTV footage of the attack on Shiv Sena leader Shekhar Jadhav

The police have arrested two more accused in the case of an attack against Shiv Sena leader Shekhar Jadhav.

On December 19, early morning, Shiv Sena leader Shekhar Jadhav was shot at in near a temple in Vikhroli. Locals caught hold of the shooter and thrashed him. Both the leader and the accused has been admitted to a hospital nearby.

On Tuesday night, the police arrested two more people in the case. Anand Phadtare(26) was arrested from Thane and Krishnadhar Singh (20) was arrested from Madhya Pradesh. Both the accused have a criminal background with serious charges against them.

When the accused was taken into custody by the police, he said his name is Abhay Vikram Singh but during an investigation, it was found that his name is Sagar Mishra (22), a resident of Madhya Pradesh.

The cop managed to arrest the two men with the help of a contact number on Mishra's cell phone and the CCTV footage in the area. One accused in this case is still absconding.

Police investigation revealed that on December 19, two accused came to the spot on a bike and as the shooters did not recognize the Shiv Sena leader, they asked a person near the whether Jadhav had come, to which the person replied that Jadhav had not come yet.

After this, both the accused went ahead on the motorcycle and came back after riding the bike a little far ahead to see if Jadhav had reached the temple. Then the accused went to the temple and fired a round at Jadhav after seeing him there. The bullet touched Jadhav's hand. The accused fired three more rounds after which the Shiv Sena leader and the locals present there caught the accused. When the shooter was about to flee, the mob got him and thrashed him. The accused had to be admitted and was taken to Godrej Hospital.

According to the police, the accused is a contract killer. The accused who was riding the bike is still absconding. An officer of Anti Extortion Cell said, "The motive of this firing will be cleared as soon as the motorcycle driver who is absconding will be caught."

According to the police, as per prima facie investigation, the attack was ordered by gangster Prasad Pujari. The gangster, a resident of Vikhroli, who was earlier close to Chhota Rajan, later joined the Kumar Pillai gang and now he is running his own independent gang. The officer added that, it is known that Prasad Pujari is in Singapore. The police believes that Pujari could have ordered the attack to increase his influence and terror in the area. mid-day also possesses the CCTV footage where the accused can be seen shooting Jadhav.

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