According to the Crime Branch, a different group, who were arrested while attempting to commit a crime yesterday, were responsible for the murder of the owner of Bharat Steel Yard, Lalchand Vishnoi, and his cousin, Ratna Ram on July 6, 2011.
"The accused were arrested with firearms in their possession from Sane Guruji circle, Tardeo. The dacoits were meeting to commit a crime, when we arrested them.
During interrogation, they have revealed that they were involved in firing at Vishnoi and Ram," said an officer from the Mumbai Crime Branch. The individuals arrested have been identified as Govindutta Rajput (28), Nauseb Khan (26), Mohmmad Alam (28), Rabiullah Khan (30) and Mohmmad Shakeel Khan (20).
Arrest in haste?
VP Road police had then claimed to have solved the double murder case within 24 hours of the incident with the arrest of Pawar, who had been working in Bharat Steel Yard, an iron-and-steel trading firm, for the past seven years.
On learning of the fresh arrests, Senior PI Rajendra Chavan of VP Road police station said, "Two robbers who acted on the behest of Pawar are yet to be arrested and this is the reason why we have not been able to file a chargesheet.
There is a possibility that those arrested by the Crime Branch are the attackers who acted on Pawar's instructions.
Once we get the custody of the accused we will be able to get a clearer picture." However, when Crime branch officials were informed about the VP Road police comments, they claimed that these dacoits were not familiar with Pawar.
The incident
On July 6, 2011, two men entered the shop in the 7th Lane of Khetwadi, V P Road. Pawar asked them what they wanted. One of the robbers slapped him and he fell down.
When manager Lalchand Vishnoi intervened, one of the robbers fired at him. Later, they fired at his cousin, Ratna Ram. Both were declared dead before they were admitted to the hospital.
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