Journalism of Courage
Five persons have been arrested in connection with the murders of two workers of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) last week in Ahmednagar district’s Jamkhed town. Police are still searching for the prime suspect, Govind Gaikwad, who had been involved in some clashes with the NCP workers last year.
The arrested accused have been identified as Kailas Mane, Prakash Mane, Datta Gaikwad, Bapu Kale and Sachin Jadhav. Yogesh Ambadas Ralebhat (30), a former secretary of the NCP youth wing’s Ahmednagar district unit, and his relative Rakesh Arjun Ralebhat (25), also a NCP worker, were shot dead on April 28. The assailants, who were on motorcycles, had opened fire on the two victims near an eatery on Beed Road in Jamkhed, 170 km from Pune city.
“We have arrested five persons who are accomplices of the main suspect in the case. Our search for the main suspect, Govind Gaikwad, is on,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Karjat division, Sudarshan Munde. “A complaint filed by Yogesh Ralebhat’s brother as well as our subsequent probe has revealed that four to five assailants, who came on bikes and whose faces were covered, opened fire on Yogesh. Rakesh tried to stop them, so they shot him also. The two victims were shot in the chest,” said Munde.
As per the police complaint, over a year ago, Yogesh and Rakesh had a dispute with some people about putting up flex boards with political messages. The two NCP workers had been involved in frequent fights with the other group, it stated.
