While delivering the sentence, Judge K.R. Paldewar stated that although the crime was gruesome, it did not qualify as a “rarest of rare” case, which is a requirement for awarding the death penalty.
Bombay: A sessions court in Panvel, Maharashtra, on Monday sentenced former police inspector Abhay Kurundkar to life imprisonment for the murder of assistant police inspector (API) Ashwini Bidre-Gore in 2016. Kurundkar, who had received the prestigious President’s medal in 2017, was found guilty of killing Bidre-Gore, with whom he was allegedly in a relationship.
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While delivering the sentence, Judge K.R. Paldewar stated that although the crime was gruesome, it did not qualify as a “rarest of rare” case, which is a requirement for awarding the death penalty.
He said:
“The way the body was dismembered and disposed of shows brutality, but it does not make it an exceptional case. The age of the accused has to be considered and the reformation probability. He is a family man. He lost his wife in the pandemic. He has an unmarried son, so there is a chance of reform.”
“I do not think this is a case of an exception being made out. So, this is a case of life sentence.”
Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, who represented the Maharashtra government, strongly opposed the leniency and pushed for the death sentence. Highlighting the severity of the crime, he argued:
“When a police officer commits the murder of a lower-rank officer, that too a woman, and the body is cut into pieces and disposed of to destroy evidence, it shakes the collective conscience of society.”
Background
Ashwini Bidre-Gore, 37, was working as an Assistant Police Inspector with the Navi Mumbai police’s human rights cell. She had married Raju Gore, an engineer and social activist, in 2005, and the couple had a daughter. However, their relationship had turned sour, and Ashwini had started living separately in Navi Mumbai.
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As per the prosecution, Ashwini and Kurundkar, who was already married, were in an extra-marital relationship. Kurundkar allegedly murdered Ashwini at his residence in Thane in 2016, reportedly because she was pressuring him to marry her.
Ashwini went missing on April 11, 2016. After strangling her, Kurundkar allegedly cut her body into pieces, stuffed them into a trunk and sack, and dumped them in Vasai creek. The remains were never recovered. The case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.
Despite Ashwini’s disappearance in 2016, the case only gained momentum after 2017. Her family accused the police of inaction and even pointed out that Kurundkar was recommended for the President’s medal for gallantry that same year—after Ashwini’s murder.
Prosecutor Gharat also informed the court that some police officials were responsible for delaying or obstructing the investigation.
He said:
“When a police officer commits the murder of a lower-rank officer, that too a woman, and the body is cut into pieces and disposed of to destroy evidence, it shakes the collective conscience of society.”
He further submitted a list of police officers to the court, claiming that their “acts of omission and commission furthered and facilitated the burking of the incident.”
He added that action should be taken against them under Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code (punishment for abetment).
Taking note of the prosecution’s submissions, Judge Paldewar directed that necessary action be initiated against the officers who were allegedly negligent in the early stages of the case. He recommended that strict measures be taken against those found guilty of dereliction of duty.
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“The way the body was dismembered and disposed of shows brutality, but it does not make it an exceptional case…”
“I do not think this is a case of an exception being made out. So, this is a case of life sentence.”
Kurundkar’s driver Kundan Bhandari and friend Mahesh Phalanikar, who were accused of helping him destroy evidence, were also convicted. However, since they had already spent more than the maximum sentence applicable for their charges, they were released after the judgment. The court said their release orders would be given to them on Monday.
