Navi Mumbai Police arrested Rajesh Patil, nephew of former BJP minister Eknath Khadse, in the kidnapping case of API Ashwini Raju Gore aka Ashwini Bidre.

The Navi Mumbai Police on Monday arrested Rajesh Patil, nephew of former Maharashtra finance minister Eknath Khadse, in the kidnapping case of assistant police inspector (API) Ashwini Raju Gore aka Ashwini Bidre.

According to a report in The Hindu, the police made the arrest after questioning Patil for hours over two days in connection with Bidre's disappearance. She was last seen on 15 April, 2016. A missing person complaint was registered on 14 July, 2016, and a case of kidnapping was filed on 31 January this year.

Patil was arrested from Jalgaon, Khadse's stronghold. According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, the police said that Patil, son of Khadse's sister, owned several businesses including hotels, construction and farms in Jalgaon.

The police had earlier arrested the main accused, inspector Abhay Kurundkar of the Thane Rural Police, who allegedly had an affair with Bidre, the report said.

According to a police official quoted by The Free Press Journal, "The call records of Patil, Kurundkar and Bidre show that they were at the same place on the day she was last seen. Several calls were exchanged between Patil and Kurundkar and they were with Bidre at her last location at Mira-Bhayander. It is not yet known whether Bidre is alive or dead."

Kurundkar has been remanded to police custody until 15 December. According to the report, he and Patil had met when the former was posted in Jalgaon. Khadse was quoted by The Free Press Journal as saying, "The police should conduct a fair inquiry. I am confident that Patil will come out clean."

Patil has been charged with kidnapping or abducting in order to murder (Section 364), criminal intimidation (Section 506 (2), adultery (Section 497) and voluntarily causing hurt (Section 323) of the Indian Penal Code.