BJP MLA arrested for leading mob

NASHIK: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Shivaji Kardile was arrested on Monday for allegedly leading a mob to the office of the superintendent of police after the murder of two Shiv Sena workers in Ahmednagar on Saturday. The police had earlier arrested Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sangram Arun Jagtap for his alleged involvement in the case.

Kardile went to the Bhingar police station at 8 am on Monday and was arrested. He was taken to court, which remanded him in police custody for a day. He has been charged with leading a mob and breaking into the SP office in Ahmednagar, which had summoned Jagtap on Saturday night.

Sena workers Sanjay Keshav Kotkar (52) and Vasant Anand Thube (36) were shot and hacked to death in the busy Suvarna Nagar chowk of Kedgaon locality of Ahmednagar city on Saturday evening. After the double murders, Sena had staged an Ahmednagar bandh while environment minister Ramdas Kadam blamed the Congress, NCP and BJP for the murders.

Speaking before his arrest, Kardile said that this was a conspiracy by the Sena ministers and former Sena MLA Anil Rathod to defame him in view of the ensuing Assembly elections. "If I was a gunda, would people have elected me for 25 years? All allegations against me are false. But the police investigations will find out the truth," he said.

A special team was formed on Monday to investigate the Shiv Sainik murders in Ahmednagar on Saturday. The team will work on the directions of SP Ranjankumar Sharma of Ahmednagar. Other team members are additional SP Rohidas Pawar, Dy SP Mahish Kalwania, PI Dilip Pawar, PI Sunil Pawar and PI Suresh Sapkale.

Meanwhile, scores of Shic Sainiks staged a morcha in Manmad Railway town of

Nashik district on Monday to protest the Khedgaon double murder. Former MLA Rajendra Deshmukh, Mayur Boraste and others staged the morcha at the Mandal (Revenue) office. A memorandum demanding strict action against the accused was given to the Mandal officer Kailash Choudhary.