After 20 years, a special court in Mumbai on Saturday acquitted all accused in the 2006 murder of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraj Nimbalkar and his driver.
On June 3, 2006, Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Kazi were traveling from Mumbai to Osmanabad, when two miscreants stopped their car and shot both of them on the spot at Kolombli in Navi Mumbai.
Nimbalkar’s cousin and former NCP MP Padmasingh Patil was also implicated in the shocking murder case. Besides Patil, Latur businessman Satish Mandad, retired state excise inspector Mohan Shukla and the shooters have also been named as accused in the case.
Pawanraj Nimbalkar was a prominent Congress leader from Osmanabad district. He gradually emerged as a popular political leader and became a major challenge to the dominance of senior NCP leader Padmasinh Patil in the region. According to his statement in court, Nimbalkar initially entered politics with the support of Patil and held positions in institutions such as Terna Sugar Mill and Osmanabad District Central Cooperative Bank. However, as Nimbalkar’s political influence grew, relations between the two leaders began to deteriorate. Nimbalkar’s son and current Shiv Sena MP Omraj Nimbalkar told the court that relations between the two camps had deteriorated so much that his father filed a police complaint against Patil.
Initially, Nimbalkar’s family was not satisfied with the police investigation and approached the Bombay High Court for an impartial probe. After court intervention, the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In 2009, the CBI named Padmasingh Patil as the prime accused and conspirator in the murder. The CBI said the conspiracy was hatched out of political enmity. Investigating officials alleged that Patil believed that Nimbalkar’s growing popularity threatened his political influence in Osmanabad district. So a contract of 30 lakh rupees was made to kill Nimbalkar. The CBI also said that a dispute over the management of the Terna Sugar Mill was one of the reasons for the murder. However, Patil consistently denied the charges and the court eventually acquitted all the accused in the case.