Pune: Police on Monday said six men arrested for the murder of gangster Sharad Mohol were providing interrogators with misleading statements, especially related to the motive behind the crime.
The city police have decided to transfer the investigation of the case to the crime branch from the Kothrud police. Additional commissioner of police (Crime) Ramnath Pokale told TOI, “Crime branch officers will soon take over the probe.”

Mohol (40) was shot dead from close range by three men near his residence at Sutardara in Kothrud on January 5.Apart from the six men, the police had arrested two lawyers — Ravindra Vasantrao Pawar of Nande village in Mulshi and Sanjay Rambhau Udan of Bhusari Colony in Kothrud. A city court extended their police custody remand till January 11.
Assistant public prosecutor Nilam Yadav-Ithape told the court that the two lawyers and others had halted at two places after leaving the city following the crime. “They did not make any attempt to return to the city. Police want to probe where they were moving to,” he said.
Besides the lawyers, the police arrested Namdev Mahipati Kangude (35) of Bhugaon, his nephew Sahil alias Munna Santosh Polekar (20) of Sutardara, Amit alias Amar Maruti Kangude of Parvati, Chandrakant Shahu Shelke of Janata Vasahat, Vinayak Santosh Gavhankar of Paud and Vitthal Kisan Gandhale of Sutardara.
Senior inspector Hemant Patil of the Kothrud police told TOI, “The six men maintained that Kangude was carrying a grudge against Mohol for 10 years after the gangster had abused and harassed him. Kangude left Sutardara following the harassment and started staying in Bhugaon. The rest of the answers they are giving us are misleading.”
The crime branch has started questioning members of the 27 newly formed and nine old gangs to find out their activities.