The Mumbai police is on the lookout for an aide of underworld don-turned-politician, Arun Gawli, in connection with an alleged plot to kill film-maker Madhur Bhandarkar. Preeti Jain, the Bollywood starlet arrested for allegedly hatching the plot, was admitted to a hospital for chest pain.
Police suspect that Gawli's office manager, Anil Tawade, has information of the plot and has, therfore, been absconding since Jain and Gawli's other aide, Naresh Pardesi, were arrested last week.
"We have sent a number of letters and personal communications to Gawli's office and the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, asking them to produce Tawade for questioning. We want to interrogate him, as he is suspected to be in the know of the plot details," a senior police official said on Thursday.
According to the official, Tawade's disapperance, coupled with ABS's failure to comply with police requests, further deepens suspicion that some bigwigs of ABS could be involved in the alleged murder plot.
Meanwhile, Jain was admitted to Mumbai's J J Hospital late on Wednesday night after she complained of chest pain, police said. Jain returned from Bangalore on Wednesday after undergoing a scientific test. She will undergo medical tests in hospital.
Investigations so far have revealed that Jain may have provided more than Rs 2 lakh to Pardesi for executing the alleged plot, although the probe is still in the initial stage, police sources said. The senior police official, however, denied media reports that Pardesi had hired a sharp shooter to execute the plan and also purchased firearms for the purpose. "This is just an input we received from sources. It will take time to corroborate the facts," the official said.
Jain had charged Bhandarkar last year of sexually exploiting her. She was arrested last week on charges of plotting to eliminate the film maker with the help of Pardesi. According to the police, the plot was apparently bared by Gawli himself, who indicated to police that he wanted to dissociate from his aide.
