Rejecting Maharashtra police's investigation, the Central Bureau of Investigation has attributed Malegaon Additional Collector Yashwant Sonawane's gruesome murder to "past enmity".
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan visited late additional collector Yashwant Sonawane's family to offer his condolences.Talking to reporters after meeting the family, Sonawane said, "We have arrested the accused in this case and the investigations are going on. This cannot happen in Maharashtra, we will stop this." Chavan had earlier announced a compensation of Rs.25 lakh for the Sonawane family.
With the Opposition blaming Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal in the killing of additional district collector Yashwant Sonawane, state Home Minister R R Patil on Thursday said name of no politician has come across in the probe.
Meanwhile, Popat Shinde, the prime suspect who also suffered burn injuries in the gruesome incident, has been shifted to Nashik Civil Hospital.
The murder of ace crime reporter J Dey has once again put Maharashtra's nefarious oil mafia under the scanner. Through various criminal acts, the men behind the racket have proved that they are no strangers to violence.
Some of the accused in the Yashwant Sonawane murder case have alleged in statements to the police that the slain officer had demanded a 'bribe' to settle the matter when he spotted oil adulteration near Manmad on January 25. The police, however, said such counter-accusation by the accused are common. The investigating officers have recorded statements of the ten accused, who are in police custody, while main accused Popat Shinde's statement is yet to be recorded, police said.
As the Maharashtra government cracks down on the oil mafia in the wake of the gruesome murder of Additional District Collector Yashwant Sonawane, a 15-year-old report on curbing oil adulteration menace prepared by a former IAS officer is gathering dust at the state secretariat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the gruesome murder of Nasik Additional Collector Yashwant Sonawane. "It is surprising why new Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is shying away from a CBI enquiry. The state police enquiry won't be able to reveal who was protecting the accused Popat Shinde and others," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
Two days after a local oil mafia in Maharashtra burnt alive an additional collector, the government on Thursday unveiled steps including re-introduction of a chemical marker in kerosene to reduce opportunities of the subsidised fuel being diverted for adulteration.
Authorities launched a massive crackdown on the oil adulteration mafia across Maharashtra on Thursday, raiding 200 places and arresting nearly 180 people, after an official was burnt alive by the oil mafia.Over 80,000 gazetted officers in Maharashtra also ceased work for the day to protest the killing of Malegaon Additional District Collector Yashwant Sonawane by suspected members of the oil mafia at Manmad in Nashik district, nearly 260 kms from Mumbai, on Tuesday.
Seven persons were arrested in the murder of Additional District Collector of Malegaon district Yashwant Sonawane who was burnt alive by suspected members of a local oil mafia, as the victim's family demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the incident.
An additional district collector was on Tuesday burnt alive, allegedly by members of the petrol and diesel mafia, at Manmad in Maharashtra's Nashik district. Additional District Collector Yashwant Sonawane was accompanied by his personal assistant and driver when the shocking incident took place at a roadside dhaba near Manmad town, nearly 260 km from Mumbai. Preliminary reports say Sonawane had gone there to conduct a raid on the petrol and diesel mafia.
Popat Shinde, prime accused in the murder of Additional District Collector Yashwant Sonawane, died in Mumbai on Monday at a state-run hospital while undergoing treatment for burn injuries. "Shinde died on Monday afternoon. After conducting a post-mortem, the body would be handed over to the police investigating the murder case of Sonawane," said P P Lahane, dean at J J hospital.
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