Nagpur: In a major breakthrough, Sadar Police of Nagpur have recovered the gun used by Hemant Shukla to shoot city photographer Vinay Poonekar at his residence at Raj Nagar on February 24. Apart from the firearm, two cartridges too were found on the farm in Haryana. Co-accused Hansraj Chauhan had helped Shukla to hide the gun.
Earlier, the Sadar police team had arrested three close aides of Hemant Shukla for helping him evade arrest for almost four months after murdering photographer Vinay Poonekar. Shukla was finally nabbed from Ludhiana by Sadar police last week.
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Saturday 05 Oct. 2024
The trio, identified as Dharmendra Sharma, Abhishek Sharma and Hansraj Chauhan, had allegedly sheltered, funded and provided support to Shukla during his flight.
Reports said Shukla got help from Dharmendra Sharma to take the firearm to Haryana, where he was assisted by Hansraj Chauhan. Police said Chauhan had dug a small pit in a room to hide the firearm with two cartridges in it.
Earlier, Shukla had tried to mislead police by saying he hurled the firearm into a river or a lake, where police could not trace it. After three days of continuous probe under Senior PI Manish Thakare, Shukla revealed the location of the firearm and two cartridges. He had pumped two bullets into Poonekar during a scuffle after a heated argument over Sakshi Grover, who is also in Nagpur Central Jail.
While Dharmendra and Abhishek are from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Chauhan hails from Haryana. After fleeing from Nagpur, Shukla had boarded a train for Raipur but had got down at Bhandara from where Abhishek had driven him to Chhattisgarh.
Despite knowing his involvement in a murder case, the three accomplices had helped Shukla to evade arrest, said sources in the police. Apart from arranging a rented apartment for him, Dharmendra and Abhishek also helped Shukla to dispose of the firearms used in the murder in a lake in Chhattisgarh, said police sources.
Probe is being supervised by Zonal DCP Rahul Madne.
