Pune: A woman and her accomplices have been arrested for allegedly murdering her boyfriend, citing mental harassment as the motive. The victim, Balaji alias Balu Machak Lande, succumbed to his injuries after being brutally attacked.

The Anti-Gangster Squad of Pimpri-Chinchwad Police arrested the prime accused, Rekha Vishwambhar Bhatnase, her minor daughter, and three others in connection with the crime.

Police investigations revealed that on the night of January 17, Rekha conspired to kill her boyfriend Balaji. She invited some friends to her flat in Chikhali's Durvankur Society.

When Balaji arrived, the group attacked him with an iron rod, striking his head and legs severely. The attackers later staged the incident as an accident and rushed Balaji to YCM Hospital, where he was declared dead before treatment.

The accused attempted to mislead the police by providing false names. However, their plan unraveled when Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Doiphode instructed the anti-gangster squad to conduct a parallel investigation. The team meticulously reviewed CCTV footage in the area, leading them to Durvankur Society. Bloodstains found in the building’s elevator intensified suspicions.

Upon reaching Flat No. 303, the team found a minor girl, whom they questioned. She identified the deceased as Balaji Lande, a resident of Dindrud in Beed district. Further interrogation revealed that the murder was orchestrated by her mother, Rekha Bhatnase, along with accomplices Dinesh Suryakant Upade and Aditya Sharad Shinde.

While Rekha and her two associates have been arrested, three other accused are absconding. A police team has been dispatched to Beed to locate the remaining suspects.

According to the anti-gangster squad’s Assistant Police Inspector Harish Mane, Rekha confessed to plotting the murder because Balaji was causing her significant mental distress.