Shiv Sena leader murdered: ‘Despite attempt on life, Sawant refused to extend police protection’

Sawant was taken to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali West, where he was declared dead on arrival, the police said. On Monday, Sawant’s body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem was conducted at JJ Hospital. A case of murder under the Indian Penal Code and invoking sections of the Arms Act has been registered against two unidentified persons at Kurar police station.

According to the police, Sawant was targeted by a group opposed to the involvement of a builder roped in by Sawant
to carry out a redevelopment project. After 2010 attack, he had been treated at a hospital for eight days, said Sawant’s daughter, Aishwarya (19).

“After that incident, the police had granted him a firearms licence. But he never used it. The police had also granted him protection for a few days but he refused their proposal to have it extended,” she added.

The police are now looking at the 2010 case files to identify whether Sunday night’s attackers had any link to the previous attempt on Sawant’s life.

They have so far not ascribed any motive to the murder. A senior police officer said Varma was being questioned since Sunday night and an artist has been brought in to prepare sketches of the assailants. “We have also got CCTV footage that shows the backs of the attackers. But the footage is not clear,” said a police officer.

Sawant had risen through the ranks of the Shiv Sena and was appointed as the deputy shakha pramukh of the party’s shakha in Malad East in 2006. He was also the president of a federation of societies that was to undergo redevelopment by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority.

“The redevelopment project had been announced after the floods in 2005,” said Aishwarya, adding that her father did not discuss these matters at home.  Sawant had been shot at in June 2010 by three men who allegedly held a grudge against him for helping the police trace a witness in a case registered against them.

At that time, he was a site supervisor at an under-construction building in Malad East. The police had then arrested three men — Jayendra Singh, Samar Yadav and Kharpu — and booked them for attempted murder.

Sanjay claimed that Sunday’s attack might have been carried out by the same person responsible for the attack in 2010.

“Back then, the police had not caught the main person who planned the attack. I suspect that this person decided to finish the job now. The planner must have followed my brother around for a few days and targeted him,” he said.

He added that his brother had done the bhoomipujan of the project less than a week ago. “Work was about to begin but there were still some people opposed it,” he claimed.

Aishwarya said her father’s name was to be declared as the shakha pramukh for Malad East. “All the processes to choose a new shakha pramukh had been completed and we were expecting him to be promoted,” she said.  Sawant is survived by his wife Sarla (44), son Omkar (21) and daughter Aishwarya.  Both his son and daughter are pursuing undergraduate degrees.