Maharashtra: Six people face murder charge after cattle transporter succumbs to injuries

NASHIK: The Igatpuri police, who had on June 10 arrested six men for beating up two cattle transporters, pressed an additional charge of murder against them on Monday after one of the assaulted men was found dead in the Kasara Ghat area.
The deceased man has been identified as 25-year-old cattle transporter, Lukman Ansari.
The Igatpuri police said a group of six men from the Ghoti and Igatpuri areas had, on the night of June 8, intercepted a pickup transporting four bovines, without government permission, in the Ghatan Devi area. They suspected that the cattle were being transported illegally. At the time, there were three cattle transporters in the vehicle along with the animals, and they were travelling towards Nashik from the Mumbai side.
On being intercepted, one of the transporters managed to flee. But the remaining two - 36-year-old Pappu Atique, alias Arshad Paddi, and Lukman Ansari - were nabbed by the group and brutally thrashed, said inspector Raju Surve of the Igatpuri police station. Later, Ansari, despite being severely injured, also managed to escape the attackers.
Eventually, the group handed over the remaining transporter, Pappu Atique, to the local police. The police got Atique admitted to a hospital, where he is still under treatment. The police also arrested the six assaulters.
On June 10, the police recovered Ansari's body from the Kasara Ghat area and it was sent to the Nashik Civil Hospital for autopsy. Surve said the post mortem report on Monday revealed that Ansari's death was caused by the injuries he sustained on his head and other parts of the body.
"We have now pressed the additional charge of murder against the six accused. Earlier, they had been booked under section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and other sections of the IPC," said Surve.
The arrested accused have been identified as Pappu, alias Pradip Aadole (34), Bhaskar Bhagat (28), Vijay Bhagade (26), Chetan Sonawane (26), Rupesh Joshi (39) and Bunty, alias Shekhar Ramchandra Gaikwad (22). All of them are residents of the Igatpuri taluka. All six men are currently in police custody.