Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
A financial dispute turned violent in Nirala Bazaar on Sunday evening when three men threatened pan shop owner Ashish Kashte (24, Chauraha) at gunpoint, held a knife to his throat, and looted Rs 7,000 cash and Rs 6,000 worth of cigarettes. The incident at the main square around 6 pm underscores the city’s rising crime.
Crime Branch officers arrested Jay Bhandarkar (23, Jalna), Ritesh Pahadiye (25, Rajabazar), and Karan Tandale (26, Kumbharwada) around midnight. Their accomplice Sahil Chandak (28, Dagadgalli) remains at large. According to the police, Chandak had called Ashish demanding Rs 5,000 and all cigarettes; when refused, Bhandarkar and Tandale assaulted him, looted the shop, and threatened his family. The officers including police inspector Gajanan Kalyankar, police sub-inspector Arjun Kadam, Abhijit Chikhlikar, and team tracked the suspects near City Chowk, seizing a live gun, machete, and knife. The court remanded the three in custody until February 4, said police sub-inspector Ashok Ingole.
-----
Criminal background & police links
Bhandarkar, son of a Jalna policeman, was previously arrested in July 2025 for a gun case. Pahadiye has two serious cases, and Tandale one at City Chowk police station.
-----
Gun smuggling connection
Bhandarkar admitted buying the gun from notorious Jalna smuggler Amar Pawar, who supplied the weapon in a January 19 Mukundwadi shooting. Amar, now in Harsul Jail, smuggles guns from Madhya Pradesh, selling them in Marathwada for Rs 25,000–Rs 40,000. On January 20, police also arrested Babasaheb Ramrao alias Rambhau Misal (30) from Bhokardan, Jalna, for attempting to buy a gun.