Pune: Launching a broadside against Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the Ahmednagar killings of two Shiv Sena leaders, party president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said the state needs a change of home minister.
Mr. Thackeray, who visited the relatives of the slain leaders Sanjay Kotkar and Vasant Thube, expressed dismay over the tardy pace of the investigation, and said the law and order in Maharashtra is worse than that of Bihar.
“So far, we [Sena] have acted with great restraint. If Mr. Fadnavis, who holds the home department portfolio, fails to ensure speedy justice, the Sena will deal with those responsible in its own manner. If someone is found backing the criminals, the Sena will take the law into its own hands,” he warned.
The murders of Kotkar, the deputy leader of the party’s unit in Kedgaon, and Thube, occurred in the backdrop of a bypoll to the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation on April 7, prompting Sena workers to go on a vandalism spree.
Two legislators, Shivaji Kardile of the BJP and his son-in-law, the NCP’s Sangram Jagtap, along with Congress candidate Vishal Kotkar, who won the Kedgaon bypoll, his father Balasaheb Kotkar, Sandeep Gunjal, and Bhanudas Kotkar were arrested. Mr. Gunjal, who is said to be the sharpshooter, had apparently surrendered before the Jamner police and confessed to the crime shortly after the murders.
Twenty-six others, including Mr. Jagtap’s father and Congress leader Arun Jagtap, have been booked for hatching a conspiracy and executing the killings. However, Mr. Kardile, who was also booked for ransacking the Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police’s office, soon after NCP MLA Jagtap’s arrest, was granted bail earlier this week.
“If the BJP’s credo seems to be supporting, and governing through criminal elements, then there is no hope of any acche din for the public,” Mr. Thackeray said.
According to the police, one of the slain Sena leaders had allegedly threatened a local Sena man for supposedly betraying the party’s interests and aiding the Congress candidate. This led the activist to turn to Mr. Vishal Kotkar, who in turn dispatched armed henchmen, including Mr. Gunjal, to deal with the two Sena leaders.
