The Pune Police's Crime Branch publicly paraded Vitthal Shelar, the alleged mastermind in the Sharad Mohol murder case, in Wakad on Friday. Moreover, they also seized his bulletproof vehicle.
Shelar, a history-sheeter with reported ties to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was arrested on Monday under suspicion of being one of the masterminds behind Mohol’s murder.
A native of Urawade village in Mulshi, Shelar has a criminal record, having been booked for offences including murder, attempted murder, extortion, and illegal possession of firearms. He was also arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in 2014 but was released on bail in 2017.
Following his bail, Shelar became an office bearer of BJP’s youth wing in 2017, focusing on party work in Maval, Mulshi, and Bhor talukas in Pune district.
Mohol, also native of Mulshi, was shot dead near his residence in Sutardara on January 5. His wife, Swati, joined the BJP and currently holds a position in the party’s women’s wing in Pune. Police are exploring various angles in the murder, suspecting that rivalry over financial dealings or a previous dispute might be the cause.
On the day of Mohol’s murder, police arrested eight individuals, including Sahil alias Munna Polekar, near Shirwal on the Pune-Bengaluru Highway. Among the seized items were three country-made pistols, three magazines, five live cartridges, and eight cell phones.
