A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be set up to probe the alleged murder of a Marathi newspaper journalist Shashikant Warishe from Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday.
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On February 6, Warishe was mowed down by an SUV allegedly driven by a land broker, Pandharinath Amberkar, who was a supporter of Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited at Barsu, while the victim was extensively reporting on issues related to the setting up of the unit. He died of injuries in a hospital at Kolhapur on February 7.
Recently, Warishe wrote an article against Amberkar titled ‘Photo of criminal alongside PM, CM and DCM claim farmers protesting against refinery’.
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Mr. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home department portfolio, said the police have been directed to set up the SIT, which will be headed by a senior officer.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar said the law-and-order situation in the State was worsening while the seriousness of those in power was in doubt.
“Warishe case is a serious issue,” he said, adding that accidents and murders in the State are on the rise. “The law-and-order situation in Maharashtra is worsening and there are doubts how much those having responsibility for the law-and-order situation take this seriously,” Mr. Pawar said in Nashik.
Journalists across the State demanded the State government to invoke the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused, the case to be tried in a fast-track court, constitute an SIT to unravel a ‘larger conspiracy’ in the case and a compensation of ₹50 lakh to the victim’s family.
Earlier, Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan said that Shiv Sena leader and Uddhav Thackeray-loyalist Sanjay Raut’s statements on Warishe’s murder were for publicity.