In the high profile murder case of Jayanti Bhanushali, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has recovered more leads on the assailants behind the murder. According to police officials, CCTV footage recovered from the Samakhiali toll plaza shows the two sharpshooters walking and crossing the toll plaza.
The assailants had planned the entire murder and had even made plans to escape the train after committing the crime. There were five gang members involved in executing the entire plan. Two were supposed to get on the train and kill Bhanushali, while the other three were supposed to wait in a car before Samakhiali so that the two could escape the spot in the car.
However, on the night of January 7, the plan didn't go exactly as planned. After shooting Jayanti Bhanushali in his compartment on the moving train, the two sharpshooters pulled the train's chain to stop it and jumped off. But they had overshot the exact location where the car had been waiting by about 2km.
So, after getting off the train, the two sharpshooters had to walk across the Samakhiali toll plaza to reach the spot where the other gang members were waiting with a car. While crossing the toll plaza, one of the sharpshooters was seen using a mobile phone and talking on it. Apart from that, the second shooter was seen holding a bag in his hand.
On Thursday, the officials were able to arrest two accused from Kutch, identified as Nitin Patel and Rahul Patel. As per the police, the two had made all the arrangements for the five gang members at Chhabil Patel's Narayani farmhouse where they had camped before carrying out the plan to kill Bhanushali.
On Friday morning, a team of Gandhidham police officials reached Ahmedabad and the two accused were taken to Bhachau Court in Kutch. The cops demanded 14 days remand for the two.
The court granted seven days remand for the two in the matter and further investigation is on. As per police sources, a team of SIT was also sent to the Narayani farmhouse for investigation and to collect more evidence in the matter.
According to senior police officials, right now, their priority is to nab the shooters involved in the case, as once they are arrested, the entire scenario will become clear. During the investigation, it was also revealed that the last location where the accused had been spotted was in Pune.
Ahmedabad: The state BJP Friday suspended former MLA Chhabil Patel from the party after the police’s probe revealed that he was behind the murder of another party leader and ex-MLA Jayanti Bhanushali. State BJP president Jitu Vaghani asked Kutch district unit president to suspend him from the party membership, a release issued by the state BJP said. Patel’s suspension came a day after the CID (Crime) arrested Patel’s two aides in connection with the killing. The probe agency has said that Patel had fled to Muscat a week before the murder.