Nagpur: The high court has rejected the plea for interim protection from arrest while hearing a bail plea by an industrialist accused of concealing a crime in a murder case registered at MIDC police station in October. The man and his son, who was earlier granted pre-arrest bail by the sessions court, had asked the main accused in the murder to conceal the crime, and give false information to the Govt Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) when admitting the fatally injured victim.
The high court, which issued notices to the state, asked the prosecution to file its reply by Wednesday. Despite the court extending no interim protection, the industrialist, identified as Sureshkumar Chandani, is yet to be arrested.
Sureshkumar and his son Dharmesh were made co-accused in the murder case with the key perpetrator Manohar Bende for their role in concealing the crime and ensuring misleading information was furnished in the govt record. Bende had bludgeoned his co-worker security guard Kamlesh Patel to death at the MIDC factory Ujjwal Ispat Private Limited on October 8, after a heated argument over not opening the gate promptly.
Sureshkumar is one of the directors of the factory where the assailant and the victim worked, said police. The investigation was considerably delayed as the murder case was registered after a gap of almost 12 days since information was concealed from the police.
It's learnt Bende rushed the injured Patel to GMCH, where he admitted the victim under the fake name ‘Anil Yadav', apart from furnishing other misleading information. Bende told GMCH officials that Patel met with an accident on Hingna Road, and then sneaked away. After Patel's death, GMCH doctors informed the medical police booth, who alerted MIDC police station, where a case of accidental death was registered.
The murder surfaced after Patel's son came searching for his father from Seoni in Madhya Pradesh. He approached MIDC police station and subsequent enquiries revealed Bende had assaulted Patel during a tiff at the workplace itself. It was after the arresting and interrogation of Bende that the role of the father and son duo came to fore.
After the murder case was registered on October 20, the cops failed to take the Chandanis into custody, allowing them to approach the sessions court for pre-arrest relief. Sources said Dharmesh was granted pre-arrest relief by the sessions court, but his father Sureshkumar's plea was rejected, which prompted him to approach the holiday bench of Nagpur bench of Bombay high court.
"We are trying to arrest Sureshkumar, but he is on the run now," said senior inspector Mahesh Chavan of MIDC police station.