Pune: After disappearing mysteriously from Pune city on October 24, renowned businessman Gautam Vishwanand Pashankar travelled by road and railway across South, East and North India for a month. Investigations revealed that Pashankar had travelled to Kolhapur, Bengaluru Madurai, Hyderabad by bus and then reached Kolkata and Delhi by railway. He was finally traced at the hotel Fort Chandragupt in Jaipur.
According to reports, Pashankar was under tremendous financial stress. Pashankar’s son Kapil had also alleged he was kidnapped at the behest of an influential politician. Kapil had also named two persons in a complaint submitted to the Pune Police after he met Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta. Taking serious cognizance of the issue, Police Commissioner Gupta asked Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Bacchan Singh to look into the matter personally.
DCP Bacchan Singh formed three teams of crime branch personnel to locate Pashankar. Technical intelligence inputs revealed that Pashankar was at a hotel in Kolhapur. By the time, the police team reached Kolhapur, Pashankar had moved out. However, police gathered crucial inputs which confirmed Pashankar’s presence at the hotel. Further inputs led the police team to Gaganbawda and Ganpatipule. Till then, Pashankar had crossed Maharashtra border.
November 20: The Crucial Day
The Crime Branch teams got solid clues on November 20 about Pashankar’s whereabouts. The team gathered information about persons whom Pashankar would potentially contact when in trouble. Based on these clues, police got to know that Pashankar was hiding in Rajasthan.
Senior Police Inspector Sunil Takawale, Police Sub Inspector Sanjay Gaikwad, Sunil Kulkarni, police constabes Yogesh Jagtap, Aiyaz Daddikar, Bangude focussed on important leads to locate Pashankar. PSI Gaikwad along with constabes Jagtap and Daddikar took a flight to Jaipur on November 23. They contacted the local police and started searching all hotels and lodges in that city. When the team reached Fort Chandragupta hotel, they found Pashankar in healthy and stable conditions.
When questioned, Pashankar told the police team that he travelled by road in a bus from Pune to Kolhapur, Bengaluru, Madurai and Hyderabad. Then he travelled by railway to Kolkata and Delhi. Pashankar reached Jaipur on November 20. Pashankar also told police that he had exhausted all the cash that he carried with him from Pune before the disappearance.