Juvenile suspect was paid Rs 500

Former Shiv Sena corporator’s murder

The 17-year-old Pune-based minor, who has been detained by Mumbai police in the former Sena coroprator Ashok Sawant murder case, was paid a petty sum of Rs 500 by Jagdish Pawar, alias Jagga, the mastermind, after the killing.

Jagga, of course, had promised to pay the minor more after the matter cooled down in Mumbai. The juvenile, in turn, was persuaded to join the plot as he wished to purchase a big car, in which he hoped to drive to the college one day.

Jagga had rented a flat in Dahisar (east), where all the three assailants, including the Pune-based juvenile, met to hatch the conspiracy. They had been planning to kill Sawant for the last 45 days.

Incidentally, Jagga and his accomplice had befriended the minor at Nigdi in Pune where the duo was searching for an address. Thereafter, the minor met them on several occasions and Jagga would take him to restaurants and pubs for a drink. It was in one of these meetings that he agreed to work with Jagga as he wanted to purchase a car to go to his college, revealed a senior officer.

Till now the police have arrested two adult accused and the juvenile in the case. Jagga and his accomplice are still at large. However, the motive behind the killing is still elusive.

The juvenile is studying in class XII in a science college in Pune, where his father runs a photo lamination store. He would often lie to his parents about his meetings. The parents never doubted him as his circle of friends was good.

The police said the minor’s flat in Pune is quite big and he used to sleep alone on the terrace so that he could talk to Jagga on phone.

“On Sunday, the trio were high on alcohol and called Ganesh Jogdand who drove the autorickshaw and tailed Sawant for four hours. All the three assailants, including Jagga, his accomplice and the minor were armed with sharp-edged weapons and all of them attacked Sawant simultaneously after he fell from his two wheeler,” said the officer. After the killing, the accused fled in different directions. The minor returned to Pune in the same blood splattered clothes.

Based on the technical evidences and statements of two accused – Jogdand and Sohail Dodhia (who gave the contract to the auto driver to ferry the accused) -- the police reached Pune and detained the minor. They have recovered his clothed from Pune and sent them to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina for further investigation.

However, the police have failed to recover the murder weapon. “We have only recovered two unused knives which were kept in the autorickshaw,” added the officer.

The minor’s father was present at Samata Nagar police station but refused to interact with media.