Pune: The Nigdi police have booked a man and two minors for the murder of a 37-year-old man, who was bludgeoned to death on December 8 at a spot near Greaves Company in Akurdi. Two of the accused were arrested while one is absconding. 

Accused Avinash Nalawade and the two minors allegedly murdered the man after they failed to extort money from him to buy alcohol. The body of Anil Vishwakarma, a resident of Kalewadi, was found at the spot two days later, on December 10. His face had been smashed by a stone by his killers to conceal his identity. 

According to the Nigdi police, on the night of December 8, Vishwakarma and his two friends, Vinod Jaiswal (28) and Akhilesh Gautam (22), both residents of Kalewadi, were riding triple-seat towards Akurdi. They stopped near Greaves Company as Vishwakarma wanted to urinate. 

However, Nalawade and the two minors started demanding money from him Vishwakarma to buy alcohol. When he refused, they forcefully took him to the nearby bushes and started assaulting him. 

Shankar Avtare, Police Inspector at Nigdi police station, said, "The three accused forced the deceased into the bushes and started assaulting him with stones. When his friends tried to intervene, they were also attacked by the accused with stones. Seeing things getting out of control, Vishwakarma's friends fled from the spot. They were so scared that they didn't report the matter to the police. They only revealed details during our investigation."