Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Police arrested 16 accused, including those accused in the murder of Rohit Pathare in connection with two cases filed after clash during the immersion procession of Ganeshotsav 2026 in Vaijapur, Maharashtra. A juvenile has also been detained.
Pathare, who suffered injuries during the clash between two groups, died on November 3 while receiving treatment. Police are on the lookout for the other accused.
A case has been filed at Vaijapur police station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 (Crime No. 701/2026) namely Sections 103, 109(1), 140(1), 333, 189, 190, 118(1), 118(2), 115(2), 352, 351(2), 351(3) and relevant sections of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Six More Accused Arrested
The incident has been taken very seriously by the Superintendent Of Police, Prakash Jadhav. He has tasked five teams of Local Crime Branch and Vaijapur police station to locate the accused. The teams were supervised by Additional Superintendent Of Police, Aparajita Agnihotri.
The investigation was done intensively with help of confidential inputs and technical analysis. The accused allegedly hiding in other districts were identified.
On November 9, six more accused were arrested namely Avinash alias Aniket Popat Hond, Dnyaneshwar Sitaram Wadalkar, Pratik Kailash Salunke, Rohit Machhindra Aher, Sanket Adinath Aher and Tushar Adinath Aher. All of them are residents of Vaijapur.
A juvenile has also been detained.
Police on Lookout for Absconders
Previously, 8 accused were arrested in the murder case. Two more were arrested in another case (Crime No. 698/2026) that was filed.
In total, 16 accused have been arrested in connection with both cases. The juvenile is excluded.
The operation was conducted under the guidance of SP Prakash Jadhav and Additional SP Aparajita Agnihotri. Vaijapur Sub-Divisional Police Officer Bhagwat Funde (Probationary Deputy Superintendent Of Police), Vaijapur police station in-charge Vinay Sonawane, Local Crime Branch Police Inspector Vijay Singh Rajput and other senior police officials and personnel were involved in the operation.
Police teams are working to locate the remaining accused who are still on the run.