Pune: Police have arrested Pune Bar Association Secretary Ghanshyam Popat Darade (33), a resident of Katraj, on charges his involvement in the Advocate Umesh More kidnapping and murder case. Police investigations has revealed that Advocate Darade allegedly shared the whereabouts of Advocate More to his accomplices after which he was kidnapped from the Shivajinagar court premises on October 1 and later killed and his body burnt in the Tamhini ghat.

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Police have arrested three suspects including another lawyer in this case earlier. The arrested suspects were Kapil Vilas Phalke (34), a resident of Chikhali, Deepak Shivaji Wandekar (28), a resident of Beed and Advocate Rohit Dattatrey Shende (32) from Pune. Advocate Umesh More’s brother Prashant has filed a complaint against them in this regard at the Shivajinagar police station. The trio was remanded in police custody by the court till October 29.

Police told the court that Advocate Darade shared the exact movement and location details of Advocate Umesh More with suspects Phalke and Shende from his mobile phone. Advocate Darade was produced in the court on Wednesday. The court has remanded him into police custody till October 31.

Police also told the court that they are yet to ascertain the exact motive behind Advocate More’s gruesome murder. Police officials said that the prime suspects in this case are still at large and investigations were on track. The suspects had burnt the coat and bag of Advocate More and tried to destroy evidence. Also, the suspects had used a fake number plate on their car in which Advocate More was kidnapped and taken to Tamhini ghat.

Earlier police said Umesh More was killed by the suspects over the past rivalry in connection with the land deal and bribe case. Phalke and Shende have offences registered against them in the Pune police commissionerate jurisdiction. Shende is an accused in a bribery case in which the deceased advocate Umesh More was the complainant. This bribery case was registered in connection with a high-profile ‘land deal in litigation’.