Ahmednagar police today said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the killing of two Shiv Sena leaders by motorcycle-borne assailants on Saturday, hours after a local bypoll result was announced.
Sanjay Kotkar (35) and Vasant Thube (40) were shot dead on Saturday in Shahunagar area of Kedgaon, hours after the result of a bypoll in Ward 32 of the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation was declared.
The Superintendent of Police, Ahmednagar, Ranjankumar Sharma, today said, "We have formed an SIT to investigate the murders of Shiv Sena leaders Sanjay Kotkar and Vasant Thube. It will comprise five police officers."
Yesterday, four people, including NCP MLA Sangram Jagtap, were arrested in connection with the killings, the police officer said.
Of the four accused, Sandeep Gunjal (28), who police suspect is a shooter, had surrendered himself in Parner police station with the weapon allegedly used in the crime, the police said.
Gujnal told the police that he committed the crime due to old rivalry and there is no political link to the killings, officials had said.
Two more MLAs, Arun Jagtap (NCP) and Shivaji Kardile (BJP), have been booked in connection with the killings, a local police official said.
According to an official, Sangram Kotkar, the son of Sanjay Kotkar, alleged that all the three MLAs had threatened his father with dire consequences for helping a Shiv Sena candidate in the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation bypolls.
Congress' Vishal Kotkar defeated Shiv Sena's Vijay Pathare by 454 votes, with local Sena leaders claiming that the killings were related to the widespread support their party had garnered in the bypoll.
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