NCP MP in custody for double murder

MUMBAI: Lok Sabha MP and a close associate of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, Padamsinh Patil has been booked for double murder. Patil, who represents Osmanabad in Parliament, has been charged with the murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar and his driver three years ago. A court in Panvel sent Patil to CBI custody till June 14.

���Patil has been booked for conspiracy and double murder. Further details of the case, if any, will be issued by Lok Sabha secretariat,��� officials investigating the case told reporters.

The co-accused, Parasmal Jain and Mohan Shukla, had allegedly confessed before CBI that Patil ordered the killing of Nimbalkar following some business rivalry. Nimbalker and his driver Samad Kazi were shot dead while travelling on the Mumbai-Pune express highway on June 3, 2006, at Kalamboli.

CBI took over the investigation last year following a Bombay High Court directive following a petition filed by the Nimbalkar family alleging police failure in probing the case.

When asked about the arrest of his party colleague, NCP chief Sharad Pawar steered clear of making any comment. ���The law will take its own course in the case. I do not want to influence the inquiry process in any way by making a comment,��� he told reporters.

The arrest of Padamsinh Patil sparked off violence in his constituency Osmanabad where party workers forced business establishments to shut down. NCP workers damaged a van of a private news channel and five buses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation as the news of Patil���s arrest spread, police sources said.

The situation in the district in Marathwada region of central Maharashtra was tense but under control, they said. Two companies of State Reserve Police Force have been deployed in the city and additional police force has been pressed into service. So far no one has been arrested in this connection, they said.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena and BJP activists staged a blockade on Mumbai-Hyderabad National Highway Number 9 near Umerga demanding resignation of Padamsinh Patil and his son Rana Jagjit Singh Patil, who is the minister of state for industries in Ashok Chavan���s Cabinet.