In a shocking event that unfolded in Pune, Maharashtra, 22-year-old engineering student Bhagyashree Sude was murdered in a calculated conspiracy. According to police, the student was initially kidnapped, with a detailed plot to murder her that was meticulously planned out. They had even dug a grave for disposing of her body.
Investigations revealed that the culprits were deeply in debt. They had previously decided that after receiving the ransom, they would kill the student. The main accused, Shivam Phulavle, had lost a significant amount of money in the stock market, resulting in substantial debt. Another accomplice lost a considerable amount in online Rummy games.
Shivam Phulavle, the principal accused and a college friend of the victim, alongside his associates Suresh Indure and Sagar Jadhav, abducted the student on March 30th from Viman Nagar area, Pune. In just a few hours after the kidnapping, the student was deceased. The attackers had covered her mouth and nose with tape, leading to her death when one of them restrained her.
Pune's Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that both the deceased student and the main suspect Shivam Phulavle hailed from Latur in central Maharashtra, and attended the same college. Phulavle had suffered significant financial losses in the stock market. The other notorious culprit was addicted to playing online Rummy, leading to his financial ruin. Both were deeply immersed in debt.
The student's father, being the director of a cooperative institution, seemed affluent, which led the criminals to believe they could extort a large ransom. They had already decided to execute the student post ransom collection, and in readiness, they had prepared a grave outside of Ahmednagar, in an area near Kamargaon. They had initially planned to collect the ransom but the student died before they could begin that process.
The three criminals then called the parents from the student's mobile phone and demanded nine lakh rupees. As per the police, they were instructed to deposit the money into the student's account since they had taken her debit card and account details.
On April 2nd, the student's relatives filed a missing person's report. Upon receiving a ransom call, the Crime Branch initiated an investigation. With the aid of the technical team, the culprits' location was tracked, following which they managed to apprehend them in Latur, where they were hiding in a lodge, before moving to Khopoli and eventually to Mumbai. One of them re-entered Pune.
To trap the criminals, the police advised the student's parents to deposit a small sum into her account. The culprits were expected to withdraw the money from an ATM, allowing the police to arrest them on April 7th. The police claim that the culprits have confessed to the crime and have revealed the location where they buried the body.
Following the murder, the criminals stripped the student of her jewelry and sold it in Mumbai. The police are now investigating where these valuables were sold. The criminals had rented a self-drive car for their scheme, which has been confiscated. The Police are now consulting with lawyer Ujjwal Nikam to discuss a speedy trial and maximum sentence, given his extensive background as a special public prosecutor in high-profile cases.
