Addl Collector Sonawane Faced Several Allegations Of Bribery, Says Chargesheet
Santosh Sonawane & Mateen Hafeez | TNN
The CBI has exonerated two members of the family of prime accused Popat Shinde in the chargesheet the agency has filed for the January 25 murder of Malegaon additional collector Yeshwant Sonawane. The agency has also alleged that Sonawane was involved in bribery and extortion and had an arrangement with oil pilferer Popat.
Sonawane was murdered by the oil mafia because his relationship with Popat had deteriorated, says the CBI. While the police had accused 11 people in its FIR for the sensational murder, two of them, Shinde’s son Vikas and brother-in-law Deepak Borse, have been cleared by the CBI, which recently filed chargesheets in the Manmad magistrate’s court and Nashik juvenile court.
While the Manmad police’s earlier FIR said that Sonawane was killed by the oil mafia after he detected pilferers robbing fuel outside a dhaba, the CBI chargesheet says Sonawane had called Shinde to the dhaba. Shinde said he was busy with rituals following a death in the family, but Sonawane insisted. Shinde then went to the dhaba with his son and two others and killed Sonawane. The CBI alleges that Shinde committed the crime in a fit of rage and due to past enmity.
TOI reported on January 28 that Popat had told the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) that he was being harassed for bribes and that the arrested men told police that Sonawane’s aides were taking bribes.
The CBI says that a tanker belonging to Popat was seized on May 10, 2010 for violating the Essential Commodities Act. The matter had been pending with Sonawane. Popat on August 27, 2010 complained to the ACB, Nashik, that Sonawane demanded a bribe of Rs 1 lakh to release the tanker. The amount was brought down to Rs 75,000. The ACB tried thrice on August 30 and 31 to nab Sonawane red-handed with the money, but failed.
The police had initially arrested 11 people, but Popat, who was also burnt in the incident, died on January 31 in JJ Hospital, Mumbai. Of the remaining 10, the CBI has charged seven — Rajendra Shirsat, Machhindra Suradkar and Ajay Sonawane for murder, and Haqqani Khan Rabbani, Imran Khan and Tausif Altaf Shaikh for rioting, criminal conspiracy and black marketing. The seventh person is Popat’s minor son Kunal, 17, who faces murder, rioting and black marketing charges in the juvenile court. Along with Vikas and Borse, Sitaram Bhalerao is not named in the CBI chargesheet.
Meanwhile, Yeshwant’s elder brother, Sham Sonawane, who is with the Nashik rural police, said the family is not interested in following the case. “Ever since the incident, neither my wife nor my sister-in-law are keeping well. Thus we have decided to not watch TV or read the papers,” said Sham.
“People keep enquiring, which only adds to the stress. I too try to remain out of it. Popat Shinde and Yeshwant may or may not have been acquainted. The investigations may go in any direction. No one knows what transpired between the two as both are no more,” he said.
After the initial Rs 25 lakh received as compensation from the state, the Sonawanes said they got nothing, including Yeshwant’s salary and pension. Sham said, “We are paying installments for the flat from the interest got from the Rs 25 lakh we deposited.”
BURNT ALIVE
JAN 25: Additional collector (Malegaon) Yeshwant Sonawane is burnt alive by the oil mafia in Panewadi, Manmad city, Nashik district. Police register an FIR in which Sonawane’s PA Raju Kale and driver Kailash Gawli are the main complainants
JAN 25-26: 11 are arrested for murder. Black marketing charges are later added
JAN 27 TO 31: Reports emerge that prime accused Popat Shinde’s relatives and the arrested men tell police that Sonawane and his aides were collecting bribes
JAN 31: Popat, who was also burnt in the melee, dies at JJ Hospital, Mumbai. 10 accused remain FEB 2: Home minister R R Patil says the CBI will be asked to begin a probe
FEB 11: The Manmad police invoke the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case
APR 8: Jagan Pimple, Rajesh Batolia and Dheeraj Yewale, who have been added as accused by the police for black marketing, move the Bombay high court seeking quashing of the FIR against them and challenging the application of MCOCA
OCT 11: CBI files chargesheet accusing only four initially named by police of murder. Three are named for rioting and blackmarketing and three have been let off
ACCUSED BY POLICE FOR MURDER & BLACK MARKETING:
Popat Shinde (prime accused); Kunal, 17 (Popat’s minor son); Vikas, 19 (Popat’s son); Ajay Sonawane, 25; Imran Khan, 25; Haqqani Khan Rabbani, 49; Deepak Borse, 32 (Popat’s son-in-law); Raju Shirsat (Popat’s employee); Machhindra Suradkar; Sitaram Bhalerao; Tausif Altaf Sheikh
FOR BLACK MARKETING:
Jagan Pimple, Rajesh Batalia, Dheeraj Yewale
CHARGED BY CBI FOR MURDER: Rajendra Shirsat, Machhindra Suradkar, Ajay Sonawane, Kunal Shinde*
FOR RIOTING, CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY & BLACK MARKETING: Haqqani Khan Rabbani, Imran Khan, Tausif Altaf Sheikh, Kunal Shinde*
FOR BLACK MARKETING: Jagan Pimple, Rajesh Batolia, Dheeraj Yewale * Kunal is charged in the juvenile court
NOT NAMED BY CBI
Deepak Borse, Vikas Shinde, Sitaram Bhalerao
Yeshwant Sonawane
The Times of India, October 13, 2011
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