Transgender accused stabs lawyer during robbery attempt

• Main accused held at 4 am; two accomplices, including a minor, in custody

• Over 13 detained during probe; bloodstained clothes changed, weapon concealed; hunt on for others

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

In a swift breakthrough, police arrested the main accused, Sadiq Ansari (40, Shahanurmiya Dargah, Osmanpura), at 4 am after he allegedly stabbed Advocate Mithun Bhaskar (49, Anandnagar) during a robbery attempt near Gandheli on Beed Bypass around 11 pm Thursday.

Ansari had hidden at his guru’s house in Shivajinagar after changing his bloodstained clothes. Nanasingh Juni (20, Mukundnagar) was arrested for assisting in the robbery and murder, while a minor accomplice has been detained. Further investigation is underway to trace other gang members. Bhaskar, who practiced at the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, left court on April 15 but did not return home. At 7 pm, he informed his wife over phone that he would reach within 10 minutes. When he failed to return by 8:30 pm, the family alerted his sister Madhura Bhaskar, a crime branch officer. Around 10:47 pm, a friend informed her about an injured man in Gandheli. Mithun was found with open shirt buttons, bloodstains on his vest, one shoe missing, and a deep thigh wound causing heavy blood loss. He was rushed to GMCH (GMCH), where he was declared dead at 12.10 am. Senior officers, including assistant commissioner of police Manoj Pagare, visited the spot. Police said Sadiq intercepted Bhaskar and took him about 50 metres inside, demanding money.

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Dispute over cash led to murder

Though Bhaskar offered Rs 300, the accused demanded more and signalled accomplices by clapping. The group assaulted him, snatched his wallet and mobile phone, and searched his pockets. When Bhaskar resisted, Sadiq stabbed him in the thigh, severing a major artery. Blood at the spot indicated he tried to escape before collapsing. The accused allegedly dumped him on the road to portray it as an accident and fled.

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Investigators detained over 13 transgender persons frequenting Beed Bypass during the search. Acting on a tip-off, inspectors Gajanan Kalyankar, Somnath Jadhav, Bharat Pachole and sub-inspector Jagannath Mendkudale raided the guru’s house in Shivajinagar and apprehended Sadiq.

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During questioning, Sadiq allegedly misled police with fabricated accounts and took teams to over 10 houses. Inconsistencies led to the detention of Nanasingh, whose statement clarified the sequence of events. Sadiq later confessed to the murder around 4 pm. Bhaskar is survived by his wife, son and daughter. His father is a retired principal and his mother a retired headmistress.