Palghar: Police have formed eight teams to trace Shiv Sena's local functionary Ashok Dhodi, who has gone missing 10 days back, and detained four persons in this connection, a senior official said on Wednesday.
Dhodi, who is Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena's Dahanu assembly constituency coordinator, went missing on January 20. The police have launched an operation to trace him, but his whereabouts are yet to be known.
Addressing a press conference, district Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil said, "We have detained our suspects in connection with the case. A case has been registered against three of them." He expressed confidence that the police will be able to crack the case by this evening.
"We have formed eight teams, including those from the local crime branch, to work on the case. Police are relying on the intelligence inputs, technical data and information collected from the detained suspects. However, complications arose after one suspect managed to escape police custody, adding another layer of difficulty to the investigation," he said.
Initial probe suggests that Dhodi's disappearance could be linked to a property-related dispute within his family, he added.
Dhodi was last seen traveling from Gholwad to Dahanu, a distance of around 15 km, on January 20. He reached Dahanu at 4 pm and spotted back in Gholwad at 6 pm, the police official said.
The probe team is also utilizing mobile tracking and other technical surveillance methods to uncover leads, the police said.
After Dhodi's wife suspected the involvement of certain individuals, an FIR was registered at the Gholwad police station.
The case against them was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 140 (3) (1) (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder or for ransom), 142 (wrongful confinement), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention), they said.
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