Nashik: A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Hemant Dinesh Shetty was arrested on Friday night for his alleged involvement in the murder of a history-sheeter in 2015. The police said it has arrested the BJP corporator in connection with the murder of Jwala alias Jalinder Ambadas Ugalmugle.
The arrest took place on Friday night, and Shetty was produced in court on Saturday, which remanded him to police custody till June 1. Assistant police inspector, Mahesh Kulkarni said that cases have been registered against Shetty in the past, including a murder case.
The police said that Shetty had enmity with the deceased Jwala and so he might have taken this extreme step. The police learnt about Shetty’s alleged involvement in the murder while probing another case.
Two weeks ago, around 20 to 25 gangsters were seen roaming with unsheathed swords in Panchavati. Following this incident, the police had arrested history-sheeters Avinash Kaulkar and Rohit Kadale.
During the interrogation, they revealed information about Jwala Ugalmugle’s murder and told the police the names of the alleged killers — Kundan Pardeshi, Rakesh Koshti and Sham Mahajan.
Pardeshi and Koshti were already in prison in another case and were arrested along with Mahajan. The trio confessed to the crime and claimed that they were told to execute the murder by BJP corporator Hemant Shetty, said sources in Panchavati police station.
According to sources, on October 1, 2015, the deceased Jwala was partying with Avinash Kaulkar and Rohit Kadale, residents of Waghadi area. When he was in an intoxicated state, the alleged killers urged Jwala to work for them.
After Jwala refused, an argument broke out. Later, the alleged killers took Jwala to a deserted place near Igatpuri. They allegedly thrashed him and burnt him alive.
Hemant Shetty joined BJP from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) before the Nashik Municipal Corporation polls in March 2017 and was given a ticket. He is the sitting BJP corporator from municipal ward number 4-D. During the last municipal elections, his wife Rupali Gawand was also elected as a corporator from the area.
