Crime

Man Accused Of 2023 Murder Played Football With Schoolmate’s Severed Head 15 Years Ago

Pune: Do some people truly possess ‘criminal minds’ and are beyond redemption?

The Pune Police have now come to know that Suryakant Kamble, a man they arrested on March 11, for a murder committed in 2023, had actually played football with the head of a classmate, after chopping it off, nearly 15 years ago. Kamble was then a minor and had been let off after spending some time at a home meant for juvenile delinquents.

That incident dates back to May 6, 2010. The police recovered the decapitated body of a school student at Naik Island at Pune’s Sangamwadi. Investigations revealed that the body was of 15-year-old Gaurav Suresh Ghorpade. The head was found on the banks of the river nearly three weeks later.

The police then came to know that Ghorpade was called to the spot by three friends, who then tied him to a tree and chopped his head off. The three then played football with the head before kicking it towards the river. One of these boys was Kamble.

This incident came to be known as the ‘Mundi Murder’ case in Pune thereafter.

Fast Forward to 2023.

History sheeter Nitin Mhaske was murdered in August 2023 at the entrance of Mangala Talkies in Shivajinagar. Among those involved is Kamble (29), who is now a dreaded criminal. Kamble allegedly heads the Pandit gang and is closely associated with the notorious Yallya Gang, operating in Tadiwala Road and Dattawadi.

“After his arrest, we came to know that he was involved in the Mundi Murder. He is also an accused in seven other cases, including two murders,” Sandeep Singh Gill, DCP (Zone 1) told journalists.