Sena (UBT) leader Pradeep Purnekar shot dead in Mumbai, family alleges political killing

Mumbai: Pradeep Purnekar, a Vibhag Pramukh (divisional head) of the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Sena, was shot dead by masked assailants on Tuesday.

The shooting has led to Sena (UBT) accusing the Shiv Sena (Shinde) of being involved in the political assassination. Purnekar's family has accused former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde and her husband Rajendra Shinde from the Shinde faction of orchestrating the killing.

Purnekar was at his office on Tuesday when around 9 pm masked assailants came in two-wheelers and shot him twice and escaped.


He was rushed to hospital where he died while being treated. His family and supporters have demanded arrest Meenakshi Shinde.

Sena (UBT) has said that law and order in the state had collapsed. "Purnekar had lost polls by a few votes. He had a conflict with Shinde and was opposing drug running so he has been killed," said Sanjay Raut.

While the police have arrested a few suspects, Purnekar's killing is the latest in a long line of leaders being killed in the state over the past 10 years.

In October 12, 2024, former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was shot dead by a group of assailants. Police claimed the killers were linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who killed him due to his proximity to actor Salman Khan.

Earlier, in the same year, Abhishek Ghosalkar, a former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator was fatally shot inside his office by a local resident who then shot himself. In 2024 itself, Vanraj Andekar, a politician-cum- gangster, was killed allegedly at the behest of his own relatives in Pune. In the same year, Mahesh Gaikwad, a Sena (Shinde) leader, was shot inside a police station in Ulhasnagar. The shooter was BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad. Mahesh survived the attack.

In 2024 again a sarpanch, Santosh Deshmukh, was abducted and tortured for hours and brutally killed.