Ajit Pawar assures detailed probe into murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader

Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday described the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar during a ‘Facebook Live’ as “wrong and unfortunate” and assured that a detailed probe will be conducted to find out what led to the crime.

A viral video of the incident, which took place at assailant Mauris Noronha's office in IC Colony in the northern suburb of Borivali (West) on Thursday evening, showed Ghosalkar being shot in the abdomen and shoulder. Within moments, Noronha also killed himself.

The probe has been handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch.

“It was wrong and unfortunate. Such incidents should not happen in the state. The conversation between the two during the live-streaming seemed friendly. Looking at the conversation, their relationship also looked cordial,” Pawar told reporters in Pune.

“A detailed investigation needs to be done about what exactly had happened between them,” he said.

Abhishek (40), son of former MLA Vinod Ghosalkar, a loyalist of the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, was also a former corporator. The fatal attack on him came days after a BJP MLA was caught on camera firing at a leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena inside a police station at Ulhasnagar.

Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has demanded Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis' resignation over Ghosalkar’s murder.

Pawar said the opposition is making an issue out of the incident, trying to defame the government and demanding the resignation of the home minister.

“They have got a chance (to target the government) now. But the background of the incident needs to be probed. It needs to be checked what exactly had happened (between them) in the past,” he said.

Pawar said that Chief Minister and deputy CM Fadnavis have taken cognisance of the incident.

Asked about Mumbai Congress leader Baba Siddique’s move to NCP, Pawar said he would join the party on Saturday evening.

“On February 11 (Saturday), some more people will be joining NCP. We are urging everyone to join NCP as the Election Commission of India has given its verdict in terms of the party name and symbol,” he said.

The poll commission recently held that the faction led by Ajit Pawar is the real NCP and it is entitled to use the party's name and ‘clock’ symbol.

Ajit Pawar also responded to a question about workers from the Sharad Pawar faction damaging a board bearing his name outside the NCP office in Pune.

Referring to the then undivided NCP’s Pune unit chief Prashant Jagtap, who is now with the Sharad Pawar group, Ajit Pawar said he made the former the mayor of the city. When nobody suppored Jagtap in the party, Pawar said he took the lead in making the NCP leader their city unit president.

“He (Jagtap) has resigned as party unit president. He had tendered his resignation accusing people in the party of harassing him. I did not accept the resignation then. We had counselled him,” he said.