Three more arrested in Beed 'honour killing' case

Three more persons were arrested in connection with the suspected honour killing case of a 25-year-old man in Beed district of Maharashtra, police said Tuesday.

Among them, Balaji Landge and Sanket Wagh, key accused in the case, were nabbed Monday from Amravati district of the state, while the third accused, Gajanan Kshirsagar (30), was nabbed Tuesday from the city, a senior police official said.

With this, the number of the accused arrested in the case has gone up to four. Gajanan Kshirsagar's brother Krishna Kshirsagar, a college student, was earlier apprehended in the case.

The victim, Sumit Shivajirao Waghmare, a third year student at the Aditya Engineering College here, was stabbed to death by two men outside the educational institute on December 19, police had earlier said.

He had married a fellow student, Bhagyashree Landge, two months ago against the wishes of her family, according to the police.

While Waghmare and his wife were coming out of the college after appearing for an exam, Bhagyashree Landge's brother Balaji Landge and one more person confronted them and allegedly stabbed the couple before fleeing, police said.

Waghmare was later taken to the Beed Civil Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, while his wife suffered injuries, they had said.

Police suspected that it was a case of honour killing as Bhagyashree Landge's family was opposed to her marriage with Waghmare.

Balaji Landge and Wagh were traced and caught after their photos and other information related to them were sent to various police stations in Maharashtra, Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) G Shreedhar told reporters here.

During the probe, the duo was traced to Amravati in eastern Maharashtra, he said.

"We sent our team to Amravati and both the men were nabbed from Badnera railway station there on Monday late night," he said.

Asked about suspicion that the accused were hiding in the house of a former minister in the Aurangabad city, the SP said a search was conducted at the residence but the two men were not found there.

The other accused, Gajanan Kshirsagar, was being questioned since Monday and was placed under arrest Tuesday, another police official said.

He was allegedly involved in the planning of the fatal attack on Waghmare, he said.

All three will be produced before a court in Beed, in Central Maharashtra, Wednesday for seeking their police remand, he said.

Gajanan Kshirsagar's brother, Krishna Kshirsagar, who is in his mid 20s, allegedly helped Balaji Landge escape from the spot after committing the crime, the police said.