A press release issued on Thursday by the police stated that of the four accused, Imran and Ahmed have been arrested, while Wasim Khan was already arrested in another case of theft and the fourth accused had died. (Representational image)

A probe by the Pune City Police has revealed that a 24-year-old man who was found dead in Kondhwa area in August 2017 was murdered by an auto-rickshaw driver and his aides, said officials.

Following the investigation, an offence of murder was lodged at Kondhwa police station on Wednesday. Sub-Inspector Abujar Chaus has lodged the FIR, as per which four accused have been booked for the murder of the youth, Nikhil Anil Londhe (24), a resident of Katraj.

The four accused are Imran Rauf Shaikh (20), Ahmed Ayub Khan (25), Wasim Ajmal Khan (30) and a 19-year-old who was a minor at the time of the incident, all residents of Shivneri Nagar in Kondhwa.

Police said Londhe was found dead at a deserted location in Kondhwa on August 28, 2017. They added their probe revealed that the accused allegedly abducted Londhe in an auto rickshaw belonging to one of them, Ahmed Khan. They allegedly took Londhe to a deserted area near Parsi Maidan in Shivneri Nagar area of Kondhwa in the early hours of August 28, 2017.

In that location, they allegedly tried to rob him of his money and other valuables, said police. But when he resisted, they allegedly bludgeoned his head with a stone, causing his death.

A press release issued on Thursday by the police stated that of the four accused, Imran and Ahmed have been arrested, while Wasim Khan was already arrested in another case of theft and the fourth accused had died.

Police have booked all four accused under sections 302, 397, 364, 201, 34 of the IPC.