Hit-and-run turns out to be murder: Woman held for killing father-in-law over Rs 300 cr property

Nagpur: A woman town planning official was held for allegedly planning the murder of her father-in-law with an eye on his property reportedly worth Rs 300 crore, a Nagpur Crime Branch official said on Friday.

Purshottam Puttewar (82) died after being run over by a car in Balaji Nagar on May 22 but a probe and CCTV footage from the area showed it was a case of murder, he said.

Following an extensive probe, Archana Manish Puttewar (53), an assistant director in the Town Planning department, was arrested on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till June 9, he said.

“She provided funds to the accused to purchase a used car to knock down her father-in-law in order to make the murder look like an accident. It is apparently to gain control of his property of Rs 300 crore,” the official said.

“We have seized two cars, gold jewellery, mobile phones etc. She is accused of orchestrating the murder along with her husband’s driver Bagde and two others identified as Neeraj Nimje and Sachin Dharmik. They have been charged with murder and other offences under Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act provisions,” he added.

In addition to Archana, Prashant Parlewar, Director of the Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the Maharashtra government, was arrested by the Nagpur branch on Tuesday night, in connection with the alleged contract killing of the 82-year-old Puttewar.

A total of six arrests have been made in the case so far: the other arrested persons include suspected contract killers Neeraj Ishwar Nimje (30), Sachin Mohan Dharmik (29) and Sarthak Bagde (29). Another accused, Payal Nageshwar (28), is the personal assistant of the prime accused, Archana.

While Archana is slated to be produced in court on Thursday, Parlewar has been sent to judicial custody till June 15.