Co-accused names decorated cop for 'killing' missing woman API

Missing Assistant Police Inspector Ashwini Bidre-Gore was killed by a fellow police official who is the prime suspect in the case, and her body was thrown into a creek, a co-accused has allegedly told police.
Inspector Abhay Kurundkar of Thane rural police, who is now accused of killing her and who was arrested last December, is a recipient of President's medal.
Ashwini Bidre-Gore (37), an API with the Navi Mumbai police's human rights cell, went missing on April 11, 2016.
"Recently we arrested a fourth accused, Mahesh Palnikar. In his interrogation some shocking facts came to light," said an official of Navi Mumbai Crime Branch today.

Palnikar and Kurundkar were childhood friends, he said. According to police, Kurundkar, attached to Thane rural police, had an extra-marital relationship with Gore.
Palnikar told police that Kurundkar decided to kill her when she insisted on marriage.

Investigators believe that he killed Gore on April 11, 2016 with the help of three others at his house in Mukund Plaza, Bhayandar, near Mumbai.
Palnikar allegedly told police that after Gore was killed, her body was chopped into pieces. Body parts were kept in a refrigerator before they were thrown into Bhayandar creek.
"We are corroborating all this with available evidence," the Crime Branch official added.

The police would seek the help of the Navy and Coast Guard to search for the remains of the body, he said.
Police had initially registered a case of abduction against Kurundkar, his driver Kundan Bhandari and his friends Rajesh Patil and Mahesh Palnikar after Gore went missing and her brother expressed suspicion about Kurundkar.
Following Palnikar's questioning, police have added a charge of murder to the FIR, the official said.
Kurundkar had received the coveted President's medal for meritorious service on Republic Day, 2017, another police official said. He was arrested on December 7, 2017.