Ponda: A 63-year-old resident of Dhavali, Ponda, Shyam Satarkar, went missing while on a pilgrimage to Shirdi, and was later found severely injured and unconscious in Nasik. Satarkar appears to have been brutally assaulted and is presently undergoing treatment at Shri Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College at Dhule. Satarkar, who was found naked by the roadside before being transported to the hospital by ambulance, has no memory of the assault and is unable to recollect how he landed in Nasik.
Satarkar arrived in Shirdi with his daughter and son-in-law on October 29. During the visit, the man casually left his hotel room telling his daughter and son-in-law that he was going to purchase a newspaper.
Shirdi police have denied the presence of any kidnapping gang operating in the area. "Unfortunately, he (Satarkar) wasn't carrying his phone as its battery was fully drained during our journey and he had kept it for charging at the hotel room. CCTV footage from the street captured him crossing the road, but he soon disappeared," said his son-in-law son-in-law Sachin Gaonkar Gaonkar.
The incident was immediately reported to his son Vishwas in Goa, who rushed to Shirdi with some neighbours to search for his father. While on the way to Shirdi, the group halted at Pune, assuming that his father could have come to Pune. They handed the senior citizen's photographs and details to all police stations falling under the jurisdiction of Pune city. Handbills were also affixed with information regarding the missing person at various key areas in Pune.
"We reached Shirdi on Saturday morning and as we were searching for him, I received a phone call from a doctor at the Dhule Medical College informing me that my father had been admitted there," his son, Vishwas, told TOI. Satarkar now has a fractured hand and has also suffered several other injuries.
Kavlem sarpanch Rajesh Kawlekar said the news of Shyam Satarkar's assault created panic in the village as Satarkar and Surendra Naik, who had also gone missing in Pandharpur in 2012, hail from the same village
Satarkar arrived in Shirdi with his daughter and son-in-law on October 29. During the visit, the man casually left his hotel room telling his daughter and son-in-law that he was going to purchase a newspaper.
Shirdi police have denied the presence of any kidnapping gang operating in the area. "Unfortunately, he (Satarkar) wasn't carrying his phone as its battery was fully drained during our journey and he had kept it for charging at the hotel room. CCTV footage from the street captured him crossing the road, but he soon disappeared," said his son-in-law son-in-law Sachin Gaonkar Gaonkar.
The incident was immediately reported to his son Vishwas in Goa, who rushed to Shirdi with some neighbours to search for his father. While on the way to Shirdi, the group halted at Pune, assuming that his father could have come to Pune. They handed the senior citizen's photographs and details to all police stations falling under the jurisdiction of Pune city. Handbills were also affixed with information regarding the missing person at various key areas in Pune.
"We reached Shirdi on Saturday morning and as we were searching for him, I received a phone call from a doctor at the Dhule Medical College informing me that my father had been admitted there," his son, Vishwas, told TOI. Satarkar now has a fractured hand and has also suffered several other injuries.
Kavlem sarpanch Rajesh Kawlekar said the news of Shyam Satarkar's assault created panic in the village as Satarkar and Surendra Naik, who had also gone missing in Pandharpur in 2012, hail from the same village
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