Five people, including the son of a former Karnataka minister, have been arrested for allegedly sheltering former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Rajendra Hagawane and his son Sushil in the Vaishnavi Hagawane dowry harassment-suicide case.
"We have arrested five persons for allegedly providing shelter to Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane while they were on the run to evade arrest. We have arrested one Pritam Patil, son of a former minister from Belagavi in Karnataka," said a police official from Pimpri-Chinchwad Police.
The others who have been arrested are Mohan alias Bandu Uttam Bhegade (60), a resident of Vadgaon Maval; Bandu Laxman Fatak (55), a resident of Lonavala; Amol Vijay Jadhav (35); and Rahul Dasharath Jadhav (45), both residents of Pusegaon in the Khatav area of Satara.
Who is Pritam Patil?
Pritam Patil is the son of Veerkumar Patil, a senior Congress leader and former Karnataka energy minister who served as an MLA for 28 years.
Reportedly, Rajendra and Sushil Hagawane stayed at multiple locations, including farmhouses and resorts, across Pune, Satara, and the Maharashtra–Karnataka border area, and were aided by the arrested individuals.
Among their key hideouts was a resort near the state border where the Hagawanes stayed between May 19 and 21. The booking was made under the name of Pritam Patil, who also arranged their meals, reported HT.
The report added that Patil and Rajendra Hagawane knew each other through common horse-riding circles.
Know about the Vaishnavi Hagawane suicide case:
Vaishnavi, the daughter-in-law of Rajendra Hagawane, allegedly died by suicide in her marital home in Bavdhan in Pimpri-Chinchwad on May 16. Her family claimed she was tortured by her in-laws for dowry, which included demands of ₹2 crore to buy land.
While police had arrested Vaishnavi's husband Shashank, mother-in-law Lata, and sister-in-law Karishma, her father-in-law Rajendra and brother-in-law Sushil had gone absconding. They were later arrested in Pune's Swargate area last week.
