Prime conspirator of Rekha Jare murder Bothe arrested from a locked hotel room in Hyderabad, 5 others rounded up for harbouring fugitive

Ahmednagar, March 13

Bal Jagannath Bothe, the resident editor of a leading Marathi newspaper, who was on the run for the last 100 days, was finally arrested on Saturday by the Ahmednagar police working in close contact with technical experts from Mumbai and Solapur police.

He was arrested from a hotel in Hyderabad city early morning. The fugitive Bothe was residing in a hotel room that was locked from outside and he was using the back door of the room. The police also arrested five persons for assisting him.

Speaking to media persons, superintendent of police (SP) Manoj Patil said six police teams were working on the arrest of Bothe who used to change places frequently.

Five days before his arrest, Bothe was tracked in Bilalnagar area of Hyderabad. IT cells of Solapur and Mumbai police assisted Ahmednagar police in tracking him as he was using a mobile phone to contact his friend Mahesh Vasant Tanpure, 40, a resident of Gajanan Colony of Nawalenagar in Ahmednagar. Bothe was living in disguise that significantly changed his appearance with beard and hairstyle.

The accused was residing in a hotel room with locked front door. He was assisted in his hideout for providing a mobile phone, money and other needs by five persons of whom four have been arrested, while one managed to run away.

The SP said the police team would reach Parner by Saturday evening and would present Bothe in the court of law.

Although the motive of the crime is still not clear, the SP said Bothe was apprehensive of Rekha Jare fearing that she would bring disgrace to him by disclosing his deeds.

The names of the people arrested from Hyderabad for harbouring Bothe are: Adv Janardhan Chandrappa of Osmania University, a resident of Saromanagar, Rajshekhar Anjay Chakli, Shaikh Ismail Shaikh Ali, Rangareddi, Telangana and Abdul Rahman Abdul Arif, Rangareddi. The fifth accused P Anantlaxmi Sabbachari, a resident of Hyderabad, managed to run away. Besides, the police have also arrested Tanpure, the contact person of Bothe in Ahmednagar.

According to the police, Bothe managed to hide himself like a hardcore criminal. He acquired a mobile phone to contact his friend whenever he was short of money. He could handle people in Hyderabad to remain in hideout for days.

Bothe had left Ahmednagar city on the morning of December 2 soon after the arrest of Sagar Bhingardive to whom he had paid money to kill Rekha Jare, the founder chairperson of Yashashwi Mahil Brigade. He had left his home without carrying his mobile phone, car or any other personal belongings.

On November 30 night, Rekha Jare was brutally killed by slitting her throat while she was returning to Ahmednagar from Pune.

A case was registered with the Parner police station. The police had arrested five accused in this crime within two days. However, Bothe had been on the run since then.