Woman Arrested For Murdering Father-In-law Over Rs 300 Crore Property In Nagpur

A town planning official, Archana Manish Puttewar, has been arrested under suspicion of planning the murder of her father-in-law, Purshottam Puttewar, an 82-year-old man from Balaji Nagar, Nagpur. According to officials from the Nagpur Crime Branch, Mr. Puttewar was fatally struck by a car on May 22, initially believed to be a hit-and-run accident. However, further investigation, including analysis of CCTV footage, revealed evidence suggesting foul play.

Following a thorough investigation, authorities arrested Archana Manish Puttewar, 53, an assistant director in the town planning department in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur, on June 6th. She stayed in police custody until June 9. An official from the Nagpur Crime Branch stated that Archana reportedly funded the purchase of a used car used in the crime.

Archana Puttewar, along with her brother Prashant Parlewar, who holds a key position in the MSME Department in Nagpur, are the prime suspects. Additionally, four others, including Archana's assistant, Payal Nageshwar, the family driver, Sarthak Bagade, and two others identified as Neeraj Imje and Sachin Dharmik, have been arrested in connection with the case.

Why did the Case Reopen?

The case was tracked after reviewing the CCTV cameras, which revealed the car's registration number. The police claimed that Dharmik had spent 40,000 rupees and Sarthak had spent Rs 1.20 lakh to buy the second-hand car to commit the crime.  During the short remand, Dharmik confessed to taking 3 lakh rupees and some gold from Archana for the contract killing. The cross-check of the statement revealed money and valuables from Dharmik's residence. 

Archana, the wife of a prominent ENT surgeon, Dr. Manish P. Puttewar, who filed the first complaint following his father's death, hired the attackers by offering to pay them Rs 1 crore in exchange for cash and gold jewellery and ordered them to set up a second-hand car for the alleged murder The siblings further lured Dharmik with additional offers such as a house and a beer bar licence, after which he hired Imje and recruited Bagade in the evil plan.

Nagpur Commissioner of Police Ravinder Singhal further stated that the accused attempted to kill Purushottam Puttewar twice in May, but he survived with minor injuries, thus the family did not file a police report.

"She provided funds to the accused to purchase a used car to knock down her father-in-law in order to make the murder look like an accident. It is apparently to gain control of his property of Rs 300 crore," the official claimed.  "We have seized two cars, gold jewellery, mobile phones, etc. She is accused of orchestrating the murder along with her husband's driver Bagde and two others identified as Neeraj Nimje and Sachin Dharmik. They have been charged with murder and other offences under Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act provisions," the official added.

The murder investigation also uncovered irregularities in her workplace. Several complaints had been filed against her. She was charged with breaking regulations and approving unauthorized layouts. However, due to Archana's political ties, none of the allegations were taken seriously.

The police intended to confront Dharmik and Archana and verify their claims with the key accused, Sarthak. He was the one who drove the car and killed Puttewar. Sarthak was even arrested by the crime branch on Monday. However, the authorities blew their chance since Archana's arrest lasted barely three days.