Journalism of Courage
A local leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and sitting sarpanch of a village in Maval taluka of Pune district was hacked to death by multiple assailants Saturday night. The police have launched a manhunt for the suspects.
The deceased, Pravin Sahebrao Gopale, 46, was the sarpanch of Shirgaon village in Maval taluka, located around 40 kilometre from Pune City. He was elected unopposed as sarpanch in December last year and had been the leader of the NCP at the local level for a long time, police officials said.
On Saturday night around 9 pm, Gopale had parked his bike in front of Prati-Shirdi Sai Temple in Shirgaon and was talking to a friend. Three persons came on a bike and suddenly started attacking him with sharp weapons. Gopale collapsed on the ground bleeding profusely. The suspects then fled on their bike.
The friend who was talking to him called Gopale’s family members and the police. He was rushed to a hospital in an ambulance where he was pronounced dead by the doctors. A joint probe has been launched by the Shirgaon police station and the Pimpri Chinchwad Crime Branch.
“Investigation teams are working on some key clues from the CCTV footage. Some suspects are being questioned by the crime branch,” said an officer from the Pimpri Chinchwad police.
