Overview
- Firefighters found a charred body in a burnt car on the Ausa–Vanwada road, which relatives initially misidentified as Ganesh Gopinath Chavan based on jewelry, with DNA confirmation pending.
- Investigators now say the deceased was 50-year-old Govind Kishan Yadav, whom Chavan allegedly picked up while he was intoxicated and seeking a lift.
- Police allege Chavan staged the scene by moving Yadav to the driver’s seat, tightening the seatbelt, placing matchsticks and plastic bags, and setting the car ablaze.
- Officers cite heavy debts and a ₹1 crore life insurance policy as the suspected motive, and they have registered cases including murder and destruction of evidence.
- Technical analysis and phone messages guided police from Kolhapur to Vijaydurg, where Latur police and the Local Crime Branch detained Chavan.