Pune man, famous for gold shirt, killed by son's friend over Rs 1.5 lakh: police

Pune: Pune businessman Datta Phuge, who shot into the limelight after buying a 'gold shirt' worth over Rs one crore some years back, was killed by his son’s friend to recover Rs 1.5 lakh he owed them, according to reports.

48-year-old Phuge was allegedly bludgeoned to death in front of his son on Friday.

Datta Phuge, the businessman from the industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the district, had become the talk of the town after he presented himself a 'gold shirt' weighing about 3.5 kg and worth Rs 1.27 crore in 2012.

Police said they have arrested nine accused based on the statement of Phuge’s 22-year-old son, Shubham.

The court remanded all the accused in police custody till July 21. Dighi police produced nine persons in Khadaki court and magistrate J C Dhengale remanded seven of them in police custody. Two were sent in judicial custody as their identification parade was yet to be done.

Amol Pathare, Shailesh Walke, Vishal Parkhe, Nivrutti Walke, Prem Dholpuria, Atul Mohite and Sushant Pawar were remanded in police custody, said the investigating officer Navnath Ghogare.

During the arguments, prosecutor Kishor Shahane demanded 14-day police custody. The police had to find out the main conspirator and the exact motive, Shahane told the court.

Shahane also told the court that police wanted to recover the weapons used by the accused and the clothes they were wearing at the time of the incident. "The accused are not cooperating and giving vague answers," the prosecutor said, adding that some of the accused who were on the run were also to be traced.

B A Aloor, one of the defence lawyers, argued that police had seized the weapons from the spot and the main conspirator too had been arrested, so there was no need for police remand.

Read: Pune man famous for his 'gold shirt' bludgeoned to death in front of son

At least 12 people attacked Phuge at an open ground in Dighi area here at around 11.30 pm on Thursday night with stones and a sharp weapon, killing him on the spot.

"As per preliminary information, Phuge and his son were invited by one of the suspects, who know each other, to celebrate a birthday," Dighi police station inspector Navnath Ghogare said.

According to police, one of the accused identified as Atul Mohite called Shubham and asked him to bring his father for a friend’s birthday party. The accused also asked Shubham to pick up 10 packets of biryani on the way. Shubham conveyed the message to his father and went to pick up food in his car.

When Shubham reached the spot, he saw Mohite and others attacking his father and he started screaming for help. But, Datta Phuge died on the spot. Phuge's son, who witnessed his father's murder, was spared by the attackers, police said.

Datta Phuge, the husband of a former corporator from Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, was into money lending and chit fund business.

In 2012, Phuge presented himself the glittering shirt made out of gold and as per the local jeweller who had crafted the piece, as many as 15 goldsmiths from Bengal had worked for 16 hours a day over a period of two weeks to make the shirt ordered by him.