Congress today demanded that the Maharashtra minister of state for home Ranjeet Patil be sacked for his reported comment that there was no evidence against the Sanatan Sanstha activist Sameer Gaikwad who has been arrested in the Govind Pansare murder case.
Leader of opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil termed Patil's comment as "irresponsible".
"An MoS has no authority to discuss whether there is concrete proof against an accused or not. He is under oath of secrecy," Vikhe Patil said here, demanding Patil's ouster.
The home portfolio is handled by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself.
Patil is reported to have said that Gaikwad was in custody only on suspicion.
"He has been kept inside only on suspicion. There is no proof," he said at Akola yesterday.
"We also speak on the phone, 'I will deal with you ("pahun ghevu", literally, "we will see you"). Does this mean that if someone dies the next day, the person (who threatened on the phone) has killed him?" Patil reportedly said.
But the minister today stated here that all he had said was Gaikwad had been arrested on suspicion and investigation was on.
"If it is Sanatan or any other organisation, whoever is involved in the murder...Action will be taken," he told reporters.
Pansare, a noted rationalist and a CPI leader, was shot by unidentified assailants in Kolhapur in February this year. He died in hospital a few days later.
