Aurangabad, Dec 3: Superintendent of Police, Ahmednagar Manoj Patil in a late evening press conference revealed the name of senior journalist Bal Bothe as the mastermind behind the conspiracy to kill socio-political activist Rekha Jare. SP Patil said that the police are on the trail of Bothe who is on the run. However, the motive behind the murder is still not known, added the SP.
Bothe is the resident editor of Ahmednagar edition one of the noted Marathi news dailies. The news of his involvement in the brutal killing of Jare spread like wildfire in the Ahmednagar district.
According to police, it was Bothe who conspired to kill Jare and had contracted Sagar Bhingardive for this purpose. Bhingardive has so far not revealed how much money he took from Bothe for the service. Bhingardive had sub-contracted the work to Anil Cholke of Rahuri who in turn had arranged the boys, Shaineshwar alias Guddu Shinde and Raju Shaikh and had paid Rs 2.5 lakh to them. The role of Rishikesh Pawar in the conspiracy is still not clear.
Interestingly, since the incident Bothe was on the radar of the LCB police who found his behaviour suspicious. Bothe had reached the Civil Hospital even before Jare was brought there from the site of crime. He was with the relatives of the victim during the post-mortem and at the time of last rites in Amardham. Later, he had visited the home of Jare for consoling the members of the victim’s family.
The police were investigating the case from the financial, political rivalry or extra marital affair angles. The motive of the murder will be known only after the arrest of Bothe.
Suspecting foul play, the police had checked the call record of Jare. On the day of her murder, on Monday, she talked with Bothe for over forty times. The last call was made from Shirur when she was on her way home to Ahmednagar.
From the very first day, Bothe arose suspicion of the LCB. However, the police wanted to first track the assailants. Shinde and Shaikh were nabbed in Kolhar while Bhingardive was rounded up in Konkan area.