Beed sarpanch murder: Nashik cops search for absconding accused, find lawyer's tip-off false

The police official said that the police carried out an extensive search operations in Nashik, only to conclude that the tip-off was false

The Nashik cops in Maharashtra reportedly conducted extensive search operations after a city-based lawyer claimed that he spotted Krishna Andhale, an accused wanted in the Beed sarpanch muder case but found the information to be false, an official said, reported the PTI.

The police official said that the police carried out an extensive search operations in Nashik, only to conclude that the tip-off was false.

The police swung into action after lawyer Gitesh Bankar claimed that he spotted Andhale near a temple in Sahdev Nagar on Gangapur Road on Wednesday morning.

The Nashik Police had launched a manhunt for Krishna Andhale while acting upon the information on Wednesday. 

Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village in Beed district, was abducted and tortured to death on December 9 last year. The police have so far arrested seven persons in the case, while Andhale is yet to be nabbed, according to the PTI.

Bankar claimed that he had spotted Andhale around 9.15 am on Wednesday.

"I saw two people standing near a tree. One of them sported a tilak on his forehead and wore a mask. When he lowered the mask for a moment, I noticed he was Krishna Andhale. He immediately left the place on a bike," Bankar told a news channel on Wednesday, as per the PTI.

He immediately informed the police about it, following which their team reached the spot and launched a search operation. The police examined the CCTV footage in the area. Later, the crime branch also swung into action, but in vain, the official said, as per the PTI.

"The crime branch conducted an inquiry into the matter, but no evidence or trace of any accused was found. When reports in social media and other media platforms were cross-checked, we found that there was no truth in it. It proved to be a rumour only," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Prashant Bachhav said, the news agency reported on Thursday.

Unconfirmed reports of Andhale's spotting in Nashik had surfaced last month too, sources said on Thursday.

(with PTI inputs)

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