Mumbai: Two persons were arrested on Monday in connection with the murder of 63-year-old Shiv Sena leader and former corporator Ashok Sawant in Kandivali late on Sunday night.
According to the Samta Nagar police, Sawant was riding pillion on a scooter returning home after attending a meeting at Thakur Complex in Kandivali.
The assailants, identified as Sahil Dodani and Jagdish Pawar, were waiting near his house. They kicked the scooter, making it go off balance, and attacked him with choppers. The duo fled the scene as he lay on the ground bleeding profusely. He was stabbed over 17 times.
Eyewitnesses took him to Sai Hospital in Kandivali, where he was declared dead before admission. The police were informed and the body was taken to Bhagwati Hospital for post-mortem.
As news about his murder spread, around 500 people gathered outside the police station, and tension prevailed in the area.
Investigations, the police said, indicate contract killing. The main accused, who allegedly gave the contract, is at large.
Sawant, who had entered the cable business a few years ago, had been receiving extortion calls over the past couple of days. The murder is believed to be a fallout of these calls, about which he had complained to the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone XII) Vinay Kumar Rathod said, “We have booked the accused under Sections 304 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.”
Sawant, a two-time corporator, is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son. Two of his children are doctors. One of his daughters was to get married on February 5. His brother, Assistant Commissioner of Police Subhash Sawant, is with the Anti-Terrorism Squad.
Meanwhile, several shops in Kandivali (east) remained shut on Monday. As rumours of the Sena calling for a city-wide bandh started doing the rounds on the social media, the Mumbai Police clarified that there was no bandh and that the shops were shut as a mark of respect.
