After a city-based lawyer claimed that he spotted Krishna Andhale, an accused wanted in the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case, police carried out an extensive search here, only to conclude that the tip-off was false, an official said.
The police swung into action after lawyer Gitesh Bankar claimed that he spotted Andhale near a temple in Sahdev Nagar on Gangapur Road on Wednesday morning.
Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year. The police have so far arrested seven persons in the case, while Andhale is yet to be nabbed.
Bankar claimed that he had spotted Andhale around 9.15 am on Wednesday.
"I saw two people standing near a tree. One of them sported a tilak on his forehead and wore a mask. When he lowered the mask for a moment, I noticed he was Krishna Andhale. He immediately left the place on a bike," Bankar told a news channel on Wednesday.
He immediately informed the police about it, following which their team reached the spot and launched a search operation. The police examined the CCTV footage in the area. Later, the crime branch also swung into action, but in vain, the official said.
"The crime branch conducted an inquiry into the matter, but no evidence or trace of any accused was found. When reports in social media and other media platforms were cross-checked, we found that there was no truth in it. It proved to be a rumour only," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prashant Bachhav said.
Unconfirmed reports of Andhale's spotting in Nashik had surfaced last month also
