Marathi actress stages her death to elope with lover.
PolicespeakAlka wanted to marry Paliwal, but as it could have been difficult to get a divorce, she made this plan to fake her death. She wanted to marry Paliwal and settled down in Bangalore, where she had stayed in the past. - Nandkumar Gopale, senior police inspector, Property Cell, Mumbai Crime Branch.

On the evening of December 27, 2013, Alka Punewar (46), a Marathi theatre actress told her husband Sanjay Punewar, a resident of Ghodbunder Road, Thane that she was going to Pune to work in a Marathi play. Alka has done a couple of small roles in Hindi films like Bawander, Gadar and some Marathi films. She left in her own car and was to be picked up at Thane station by another car, which would then take along the other theatre members to Pune.

When his wife didnu2019t answer his calls, Alkau2019s husband Sanjay approached the Kopri police in Thane and filed a missing complaint on December 28.

Kopri police, in their investigations, traced Alkau2019s mobile phone to Khopoli. They later learnt that an accident had taken place in Khopoli the previous night. Police suspected it was the car carrying the actress. u201cWe recovered the car but not her body, making the case even more complicated for us,u201d said Balasaheb Patil, deputy police commissioner of Thane.

Meanwhile, while going through Alkau2019s Call Data Records, the Mumbai Crime Branch, which was also investigating the case, came upon one Sanjay Sonkar (28).

Nandkumar Gopale, head of Property Cell at Crime Branch, and Assistant Police Inspector Nitin Patil detained Sonkar and interrogated him.

Sonkar spilled the beans and told cops that he was a friend of Alok Paliwal (28), an engineer and MBA. He said Paliwal and Alka were in love with each other and wanted to marry. But their family members were against this. He also revealed that Alka had not disclosed to Paliwal that she had been married twice, and that she had a daughter, who was married, and twins. The duo hatched a plan to fake Alkau2019s death.

They bought a Maruti 800 from Thane for R28,000. On December 27, after they watched a film, Paliwal asked Alka to go to CST and wait for him there. Meanwhile, he and Sonkar took the car to the ghats near Khopoli and pushed it into the gorge. They had also kept Alkau2019s phone and purse in the car, to make it look like the actress had died in an accident. u201cThey even called the Highway police and informed them about the car that had fallen in the ghat,u201d said Nitin Patil, assistant police inspector of Property cell, Mumbai Crime Branch.

After this, Paliwal headed to Uran, where he was joined by Alka. From here, the couple went via road to Bangalore, and from there to Chennai. When they checked into a hotel yesterday, the Jeevan police in Chennai, working on the instructions of the Mumbai Crime Branch, detained the duo. The Thane police will now make a C-summary report in the case.