Navi Mumbai: The family of late assistant police inspector Ashwini Bidre, who was killed in 2016, on Friday demanded the harshest punishment for Abhay Kurundkar, a former police inspector who has been found guilty of murdering her.
“It has been nine long years, and I believe the accused should be hanged. Such cruelty deserves no mercy,” the late policewoman’s daughter Suchi Gore told the sessions court at Panvel. “Such cruelty deserves no mercy. They should suffer as much as they made my mother suffer.”
Bidre, posted at the protection of civil rights unit in Konkan Bhavan, Belapur, went missing on April 15, 2016. She was reportedly in an extramarital relationship with Kurundkar, then an officer with the Thane Rural police. Her brother lodged a missing complaint on July 14, 2016, which was converted into a kidnapping case on January 31, 2017, while Kurundkar was arrested on December 7, 2017.
Last Saturday, the sessions court in Panvel found Kurundkar guilty of murdering Bidre, dismembering her body, and disposing it in the Mira-Bhaindar creek.
Friday’s hearing revolved around the sentencing of the former inspector, with both the prosecution and the defence presenting their arguments. The deceased’s husband Raju Gore, daughter Suchi Gore and maternal uncle Anand Bidre were present in court to submit their statements.
“The accused seems to have no remorse,” Suchi Gore said, demanding death penalty for the accused. Her father Raju Gore accused the Navi Mumbai police of attempting to shield Kurundkar.
“The remarks made by the then police commissioner about Ashwini were deeply disrespectful. It’s clear how little regard the department has for its female officers,” Raju Gore told the court. The investigating officer, Sangeeta Alphonso, who played a key role in cracking the case, was later sidelined, he mentioned. He also highlighted the police department’s reluctance to use modern technology to locate Bidre’s remains and declined any financial compensation from the accused. Instead, he urged the court to direct the government to support his daughter’s education, in line with Ashwini’s pay scale.
The prosecution also sought action against other errant police officers. The case had dragged on for nine years only because of their acts of omission and commission, said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat.
“The accused took great pains to hide the crime – he made false entries in logbooks and sent messages from the deceased’s phone claiming she was going for vipassana to prove that she was alive. This only shows it was a premeditated act,” Gharat said.
The defence, meanwhile, argued for leniency, citing the lack of direct evidence and the case’s reliance on circumstantial findings.
“The accused has no prior criminal record and was a decorated officer. That none of the witnesses turned hostile shows he didn’t misuse his position. Even the prosecution acknowledged investigative lapses. These factors point to the possibility of rehabilitation, and therefore, a lenient sentence is appropriate,” said defence advocate Vishal Bhanushali.
After nearly two hours of intense deliberation, the judge, KG Paldewar, adjourned the matter till April 21, saying he needed to study all aspects of the case thoroughly before sentencing the accused.
