JAYPRAKASH S. NAIDU Mumbai
The police now believe that Vijay Palande might be the one, who introduced Dhananjay Shinde ( 34) and Manoj Gajkosh ( 32), into the dark world of crime.
Since Shinde and Gajkosh have been arrested,
the police had been trying hard to find out if the duo have any criminal antecedents to strengthen that they are hardened criminals, but to no avail.
It is learnt from a former investigating official that Shinde and Gajkosh first met Palande around 10 years ago. In 1996- 1997, Shinde made friends with Palande in Copper Chimney, Juhu, were they worked together. Gajkosh came in touch with Palande while he worked as a labour at the airport.
According to a police source, both Shinde and Gajkosh are unmarried and come from poor families.
They are school dropouts making them even more vulnerable in the present times and an easy target for people like Palande.
Shinde spent some of his life in Nashik and had a small house off the Barve Road in Pune, where he used to live with his family comprising his parents and a sister. Gajkosh was brought up in Dharavi and lived with his mother and two sisters.
” Easy money to beat their poverty and the sudden mouth- watering experience of having a lavish and luxurious life, propelled them into executing, aiding and abetting crimes masterminded by Palande.
They splurged on liquor the money that Palande gave them and lived in posh flats,” added, the official, on condition of anonymity.
The police arrested the duo on April 10 and as of April 27, no other crimes committed by the duo without the involvement of Palande, has come to fore.
Simran back in cop custody
A senior Crime Branch official said, ” In both the murder cases, we have around 20 witnesses who have agreed to depose against the accused,” Meanwhile, Simran Soods joy of being free from Crime Branchs custody ended on Friday when the Esplanade court sent her back to their custody till May 4 in the Arun Kumar Tikku murder case.
Earlier, she was sent to judicial custody till May 12, but on Friday the Crime Branch succeeded in securing the custody to interrogate her in Tikkus murder case.
