Woman Held For Plotting Father-In-Law’s Killing For Rs 300 Cr Property, Paid 1 Cr To Look Like Hit & Run

In a surprising turn of events, a hit and run case turned out to be a contract killing case after investigation revealed the involvement of a Nagpur woman, who hatched a consipracy to kill her father-in-law for property worth Rs 300 crores.

This led to the arrest of 53-year-old Archana Manish Puttewar, a fortnight after her father-in-law Purushottam Puttewar was run over by a car. Puttewar worked as an assistant director in the town planning department.

According to news agency PTI, the woman had hired people for the hit and run job and also paid about Rs 1 crore for the murder plot.

“She gave funds to the accused to purchase a used car to knock down her father-in-law. This was done to make the murder look like an accident. It is apparently to gain control of his property of ₹ 300 crore,” a police officer told PTI.

The officer also stated that the woman had allegedly plotted with her husband’s driver Bagde and two other accused identified as Neeraj Nimje and Sachin Dharmik.

The accused have been charged with murder and other sections under the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act. Besides this, two cars, mobile phones, and gold jewellery have also been seized.

Woman Plotted Killing With 2 Others Including Husband’s Driver

According to a report by NDTV, it was found out during the police investigation that Purushottam Puttewar had gone to visit his wife Shakuntala at a hospital, where she was recovering after a surgery. It was while he was on his way back home that the hired car ran him over. The incident took place in Nagpur’s Balaji Nagari.

Initially, after Purushottam was killed by the speeding car on May 22, a bailable case was registered and the driver was released along with the car. However, after a detailed probe was carried out on the instructions of a top police official, it was brought to light that it was a murder plot. Thereafter, the daughter-in-law, Archana, and her accomplices Sarthak Bagde and Dharmik were apprehended.

After the CCTV footage of the accident was reviewed, the registration number of the car used in the incident was revealed, bringing a fresh turn to the case.

The cops claimed that co-accused Dharmik had spent Rs 40,000 and the driver, Bagde, contributed Rs 1.20 lakh to purchase the second-hand car that was used to run over the 82-year-old man, News 18 reported.

During remand, Dharmik also agreed to taking Rs 3 lakh and some gold from Archana to complete the task.

During the probe, the cash and valuables were recovered from Dharmik’s residence.

Thereafter, the Nagpur crime branch took Archana into custody on June 6 and sought a three-day remand from the court.

Apart from the murder plot, the investigation into matter also led to the discovery of gross irregularities in Archana’s work in the town planning department, the News 18 report noted.

The probe revealed that even though multiple complaints were filed against her, but no action was taken owing to her political connections.