Missing 25-year-old found dead in parked car near Pune's Sarasbaug; cause of death unclear

The body of a young man was found inside an unattended car in Pune's crowded Sarasbaug area on the morning of Friday, October 30, causing alarm. The car was parked outside the Dadawadi Jain temple. The body was found at about 9.45 am. The man had been missing for five days, and a missing-person complaint had already been registered at Hadapsar police station.

On Friday morning, a citizen phoned the police control room to say that a strong smell was coming from a four-wheeler parked on the road in front of the temple. Swargate police reached the spot immediately. Local residents told the police that the car had been parked at the same place for the past two to three days.

When the police opened the car door, they found the bloated body of a young man on the seat. Given the seriousness of the case, a team from the forensic department was also called. The deceased has been identified as Shubharat Balasaheb Bansode. He was 25 and lived in Kawadi village in Loni Kalbhor.

According to the police, Bansode had gone to Hadapsar Gadital at about 12 noon on October 26 to deliver his father's lunch box. His father drives an autorickshaw. After handing over the lunch box, Bansode told his father he was going home and left. At about 9.30 pm he met a friend and said to him, "I am leaving." His phone was switched off after that.

When Bansode did not return home, his family searched for him. When there was no trace of him, the family filed a missing-person complaint at Hadapsar police station on October 28, 2026.

The police investigation has found that the car in which the body was found belongs to Bansode's friend Avinash Parshuram Gaikwad. Bansode had taken the car from him. The police are now trying to establish where Bansode went in the car from Hadapsar, when the car was parked in the Sarasbaug area, whether anyone else was with him, and how he died.

No injury was visible on the body at first sight. The body has therefore been sent to Sassoon Hospital for a post-mortem. The police said the actual cause of death will become clear only after the report arrives. Senior Police Inspector Yashwant Nikam is conducting further investigation into the case.