Pune cops clueless on woman’s murder

Five days after the wife of a Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) junior engineer was murdered at her home in Nigdi, the Pune rural police are clueless about the motive and the suspect behind the crime.

Sheetal Ovhal, 35, the wife of Vinay Ovhal and a homemaker, was attacked and killed by an unidentified man at her Kaleshwar Housing Society residence in Nigdi-Pradhikaran area on August 26. Ovhal had lodged a first information report (FIR) at the Dehu Road police station.

According to the police, Sheetal was alone at home around 12.15pm when an unidentified man is said to have come to her house, stating that her husband had sent him for garden work. Sheetal immediately called up her husband to verify.

Even as Vinay was telling her that he had not sent anyone to the house, the call got disconnected. Vinay made four calls to his wife that went unanswered. The police said that Sheetal was assaulted with sharp weapons and suffered injuries on her face, hands and head.

Sheetal was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Nigdi, where she succumbed to her injuries at 9.30pm.

The police said that the Ovhals had been living in their present home for six years with their two sons.

Deputy superintendent of police Avinash Dakane told DNA, “We have formed a special team to nab the murderer. Our investigations have proved that robbery was not the intention of the culprit as he had not taken anything from the house.”

The Ovhal family has shifted to Vinay’s sister’s house in Chinchwad.

Police custody for man held with 3 kg opium
The court of judicial magistrate (first class) on Thursday remanded a man in police custody till September 10 for possessing opium.

The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Pune police on Wednesday arrested Kaluram Hemaram Chowdhary (32) for possessing 3 kg of opium valued at Rs3.75 lakh.

Chowdhary hails from Dhani village in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. Acting on a tip-off, a team led by inspector Satish Deore nabbed Chowdhary opposite Bhagli Hospital in Bibvewadi around 1.15am on Wednesday.

A case against Chowdhary has been registered under the relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, at the Sahakarnagar police station.