Thane: An innkeeper with a criminal record was shot dead following a long-standing dispute on Wednesday night. The deceased identified as Ganesh Kokate (33) was on the Bhar road near Kamini of Kasheli village when bike-borne miscreants opened fire at him. One Ganesh Indulkar was accused of opening fire on the innkeeper while he was travelling from Thane to Kasheli via Bhiwandi in his car through Kasheli village limits.
After the firing, the critically injured hotelier was taken to Jupiter Hospital here, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment late at night. Incidentally, this was not the first time an attempt was made to murder him. Around five months ago, Kokate had even filed an application at the Narpoli police station stating that his life was in danger.
At that time, Kokate had managed to escape unhurt. The four accused who had back then opened fire at him were arrested by the police, but the main accused Indulkar was absconding. Following an internal conflict over contract labour, Indulkar nursed a grouse against Kokate, chased his car and shot him dead.
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Meanwhile, Senior Police Inspector Vijay Ballal said that the police are on the lookout for the prime accused in the killing of Ganesh Kokate and are in the process of gathering the CCTV footage on the Thane route. Four teams of police have been dispatched to nab Ganesh Indulkar, who also has scores of cases registered against him.
On the other hand, Kokate's relatives' have accused the Narpoli police of not taking any action on the application submitted by him about the threat to his life. The deceased Ganesh Kokate was found to have been booked for robbery, theft and serious assault and was staying with his family in the Kasheli area of Bhiwandi taluka.
