Bombay HC grants bail to Laxmi Andekar in Ayush Komkar murder case, refuses stay

The Bombay High Court has released Pune corporator Laxmi Udaykant Andekar on bail in the murder case of 18-year-old Ayush Komkar. She had been held under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The case is tied to the Andekar gang of Pune, and the order has brought relief to her family.

Andekar, a leader of the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar, had gone to court more than once to seek release. Her pleas were heard by the Pune Sessions Court and then the High Court. She even fought the Pune Municipal Corporation election from jail and won, but the victory did not alter her custody. She stayed behind bars until the High Court passed its order.

Her counsel, Advocate Vipul Dushing, told the court that her role in the offence has not been clearly established and that nothing on record shows she was directly involved. After weighing this submission, the court allowed the bail application.

Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hire then asked that the order be put on hold for four weeks so the prosecution could challenge it. The court declined, and the bail order stands. Her release is subject to conditions set by the court.

Ayush Komkar was attacked in a parking area in Pune in September 2025. According to the details of the case, the attackers were lying in wait. They shot at him first and then struck him with sharp weapons, and he died at the spot.

Investigators connect the killing to the earlier murder of NCP corporator Vanraj Andekar, who was shot dead in Nana Peth on September 1, 2024. Ayush was Vanraj's nephew. The police probe found that the 2025 attack was allegedly a revenge plot arising from that murder. Ayush's father was suspected of having a part in the earlier killing, and his grandfather Bandu Andekar, described as the head of the Andekar gang, is accused of planning the later attack.