Four of the five accused were caught after the Ahilyanagar police laid a trap at the foot of Miravali hill in Bhingar.Five men, including two with alleged links to the Andekar gang in Pune, were arrested in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar, following a tip-off from Military Intelligence, Southern Command, the district police said on Thursday.The police identified the accused as Mushtaq Shaikh, 22, Virat alias William Mehendale, 26, Samarth Madalkar, 19, and Samarth Dudhbhate, 18, all residents of the Kondhwa area of Pune, and Akash Pawar, 25, of Bhingar in Ahilyanagar.Four country-made pistols, 10 live cartridges, sharp weapons, and mobile phones, all worth Rs 1.8 lakh, were recovered from the accused, the police said, adding that they suspect that the accused were planning to commit a robbery or some other crime in Ahilyanagar.Also Read | Brother of accused in Vanraj Andekar murder shot atOn May 26, the Local Crime Branch team of the Ahilyanagar police, led by Senior Police Inspector Kirankumar Kabadi, laid a trap at the foot of Miravali hill in Bhingar. According to the police, while Pawar escaped on a motorcycle, the other four accused were caught.Subsequently, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged at the Bhingar Camp police station against the five accused under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Indian Arms Act. During the investigation, the police arrested Pawar on May 27.“Our probe revealed that Madalkar and Dudhbhate are members of the Andekar gang. Both were involved in the murder of a 30-year-old autorickshaw driver, Ganesh Kale, who was shot dead in Pune’s Kondhwa area in November last year. Prima facie, we believe that the accused procured firearms in the past from an Andekar gang member who is currently lodged in jail,” Kabadi said. “Pawar is a history sheeter from Ahilyanagar. A probe is on to ascertain if he had hired the gangsters to commit a crime,” he added.Also Read | Women from gangster Andekar’s family, behind bars for murder, win PMC electionThe Andekar gang recently made headlines for firing at 26-year-old Akshay alias Bala Mhaske in Pune’s Balajinagar on May 20. A resident of Dhankawade, Mhaske’s brother, Akash, had earlier been arrested in the Vanraj Andekar murder case.Story continues below this adA former corporator, Vanraj, was the son of criminal Suryakant alias Bandu Andekar, 70, who heads the Andekar gang. Vanraj was shot dead on September 1, 2024, near his residence at Doke Talim Chowk in Nana Peth.