Quarry owner’s sons held in Virar activist murder case
While police arrested Bhalchandra earlier, they have now arrested his elder son Mahesh and Pratik, the younger, for their alleged involvement in the murder.
The incident took place Tuesday afternoon when Aatmaram Patil was killed while a revenue official from the tehsildar office sustained minor injuries. (Express photo) Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police arrested two sons of a quarry owner, Bhalchandra Patil (75), on Thursday in connection with the murder of Aatmaram Patil, a local activist and political party worker who was killed on Tuesday in Virar. A revenue official too sustained injuries in the incident.
While police arrested Bhalchandra earlier, they have now arrested his elder son Mahesh and Pratik, the younger, for their alleged involvement in the murder. A few more accused are still on the run.
Senior inspector of Virar police Lalu Ture said that while the complainant’s family gave a complaint against several persons, they have zeroed in on six to seven people who were involved in the murder.
Police said Aatmaram had been asked to go to the quarry by Amit Chaudhary, the national president of Loktankrik Lokrajyam Party, of which Aatmaram was a member.
“Since Chaudhary, the complainant, was not present in the area when a revenue official reached the quarry regarding which Chaudhary had complained on a national portal, he called up Aatmaram who reached the spot where the murder took place,” Ture said.
He added that Chaudhary and the main accused Bhalchandra Patil knew each other well and both are accused in an FIR that had been registered against them earlier. “A few years ago they had a fall out and since 2011, there have been several complaints that Chaudhary has filed regarding illegalities in quarries owned by Bhalchandra,” he said.
On account of these complaints, his quarry had been sealed since January and had been incurring financial losses, the officer said. “The accused says he got angry that even after the quarry was shut, complaints were being made and that led to a fight between the two sides,” the officer added.
The incident took place Tuesday afternoon when Patil was killed while a revenue official from the tehsildar office sustained minor injuries when the duo was attacked by six to eight persons at Shirgaon quarry.
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