By IANS,
Mumbai : Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Padamsinh Patil was arrested early Sunday for the murder of his cousin and Congress leader Pavan Raje Nimbalkar in 2006. A local court has sent him to Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) custody till June 14.
Senior Public Prosecutor Ejaz Khan told media persons that Patil has been charged under sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court in Panvel, around 100 km from Mumbai, also directed the CBI to provide all medical assistance that the MP may require in view of his health conditions.
Patil, a former state home minister, was rushed to a Mumbai hospital early Sunday following complaints of headache, giddiness and hypertension, according to officials.
He was brought to court after his discharge from Sir J.J. Hospital.
Briefly interacting with media persons, Patil claimed that he was being framed in the Nimbalkar murder case.
Elected last month from Osmanabad Lok Sabha constituency, Patil was questioned, detained and subsequently arrested for the murder and conspiracy to kill his cousin Nimbalkar.
Meanwhile, in his home town Osmanabad, Patil’s supporters went on a rampage protesting against their leader’s arrest. According to police, the angry protesters pelted stones at and damaged several private vehicles and two state transport buses.
Nimbalkar, Patil’s cousin, was shot dead by two gunmen at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai on July 3, 2006, after he was lured there under the pretext of striking a business deal.
Shooter Dineshram M. Tiwari (37) and his supervisor Parasmal T. Jain (47), were arrested by the CBI May 25 for killing Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Qazi.
In their confessional statement recorded before a magistrate, the duo also made the sensational disclosure of having received a Rs.2.50 million contract to eliminate renowned social worker and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, a Magsaysay award winner.
The contract to kill Nimbalkar and Hazare was allegedly given by two businessmen, Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade.
Jain said that he accepted the Rs.3 million contract to kill Nimbalkar since he had suffered business losses. He was facing financial problems and wanted money to cure himself of AIDS, he told police.
In police custody till Monday, Jain and Tiwari said that they refused the paid offer to kill Hazare.