Charkop murder: Cell records helped crack case, say cops
The mobile phone records of the accused helped the police crack the Charkop murder case and arrest Asha Wankhede, 60, wife of murdered former banker Prakash Wankhede, and two others on Monday.
An officer from Charkop police station said that while they were checking three of the accused’s mobile phone records, they got suspicious as they were found to be in the same area when Prakash allegedly vanished on between April 11 and 12 last year. He added that on interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime.
According to the police, Prakash frequently suspected Asha was having an extra-marital affair. Frustrated with the constant suspicion, she decided to kill him.
She sought the help of her sister Vandana Korve, 40, and Vandana’s boyfriend Nilesh Supale, 36, to kill him.
For this, she gave a cheque of Rs 2 lakh and Rs15,000 in cash to both of them and an extra Rs1 lakh in cheque to help dispose of Prakash’s body, the police said.
On April 10, 2016, Prakash,and Asha left for Ahmednagar to attend a family function. They were joined by Vandana and Nilesh in an SUV that belonged to a friend of Nilesh.
On the intervening night of April 11 and 12, the trio fed kheer laced with sleeping pills to Pra kash. When he fell unconscious Asha hit him on the head with an iron rod and killed him. The three wrapped his body in a jute sack, loaded it in the SUV and dumped it 27 kilometres from his sister’s house in Parner, said the officer.
Two weeks later, Asha approached the Charkop police and lodged a missing person complaint. She told the police that her husband had asked her not to contact him for 15 days as he wanted to be by himself but she grew worried when he did not return. While investigating the case last year, the police found no leads.
While analysing the accused’s phone records, the police found a connection and arrested the three accused.