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Was Yashwant Sonawane out to collect hafta?

Additional collector Yashwant Sonawane’s gruesome killing in Manmad on January 25 has raised several unanswered questions, the topmost being the motive behind the act.

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Additional collector Yashwant Sonawane’s gruesome killing in Manmad on January 25 has raised several unanswered questions, the topmost being the motive behind the act.

While initial reports had indicated that Sonawane had gone there for a raid, investigations and eyewitness accounts indicate that there was no raid conducted by Sonawane on that day, and the real trigger could have been an argument over the bribe amount.

Over the past five days, the police have recorded statements of suspects, eyewitnesses and all those who are linked to the incident. However, it has yet not been established that Sonawane had gone to the spot for a raid. This has given rise to a suspicion as why did Sonawane go there at all.

According to an eyewitness, when Sonawane reached the spot in his vehicle, he went straight to the dhaba and asked Raju Shirsat (one of the arrested) on the whereabouts of Popat Shinde. When Shirsat told him that Shinde was not around, Sonawane reportedly asked him to call Shinde and summoned him. “Shinde was attending religious rites at his home, since his wife had died 10 days ago. However, Shinde accompanied by his son

(Kunal) to the spot and all three went to a secluded spot and started discussing something,” the eyewitness said in his statement to the police.

Soon, the trio started having heated arguments and before anyone could realise, Shinde and Kunal hit Sonawane, who instantly fell to the ground. In the heat of the moment, Shinde poured kerosene on the 44-year-old officer and set him ablaze, the eyewitness recounted in his statement.

However, according to the local police, it is yet not clear what was the exact reason for Shinde and his son to get so violent. Shinde, who himself sustained severe burn injuries, is battling for his life and has been admitted in the JJ hospital. Statements of the other nine accused who have been arrested has also not thrown light on what caused the reaction.

Some of the accused have alleged that Sonawane had come to collect ‘hafta’ which could be the actual trigger. However, the police have not taken these allegations by the accused seriously.

“The statement of the accused has no importance in the court of law. An accused might say anything to defend himself,” additional director general of police, KP Raghuvanshi said. “Bribery complaints against Sonawane were with the anti corruption bureau (ACB) and not with local police,” he added.

Sonawane, a 1994-batch Maharashtra cadre officer, was posted in Malegaon for the past year. There have been at least three complaints of bribery made against him to the Nashik branch of the state ACB.

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