Sena leader Dhangekar rejects suicide abetment charge, blames stalled project

He said they had received these permissions and a bank loan, as all the project-related paperwork was in order.

“However, the project stalled after three slabs were constructed, with claims that it was on Waqf Board land. This caused a huge loss for us…. I had then told the authorities that people would die by suicide due to this,” Dhangekar said and asked for a proper police probe into Shaikh’s alleged suicide.

What the police say

Shaikh, who had been working as a real estate developer in Pune since 2011, allegedly died by suicide at his house in the city’s Gultekdi area, on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.

The police said, apart from Dhangekar and former corporator Bala Shedge, whose wife was also Shaikh’s business partner, he also referred to 14 people in connection with separate business projects and financial dealings in his videos and suicide note.

Milind Mohite, Deputy Commissioner of Police, told reporters Friday that Shaikh had not previously filed a complaint against the 14 people, including Dhangekar and his wife, in connection with various business projects and financial deals.

Mohite said they will investigate the case.

A police officer said no arrests have yet been made in this case, but they are probing the role of those named by Shaikh in his note.

Police sources said Dhangekar and the other accused may apply for an anticipatory bail from a court in this case.

According to the police, Shaikh claimed in his note that he did not receive about Rs 2.5 crore from the accused persons and was also threatened by some of the accused.

Who is Dhangekar?

Dhangekar won the 2023 Kasba Assembly bypoll on a Congress ticket, defeating the BJP’s Hemant Rasane, but lost the 2024 Lok Sabha election to the party’s Murlidhar Mohol and the subsequent Assembly election to Rasane. In the same year, Rasane defeated Dhangekar in the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

He joined Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in March 2025, though he continued targeting BJP leaders, including Chandrakant Patil and Mohol, over various issues.

He particularly targeted BJP Minister and MLA Chandrakant Patil over fugitive gangster Nilesh Ghaiwal from Kothrud. Last year, Dhangekar also had trained guns on Union Minister Mohol over the Jain property trust case. It sparked major political controversy, after which Shinde met Dhangekar to pacify him.

A controversy also erupted last year after Dhangekar allegedly shared a video of a brawl involving Rafiq Shaikh, an office-bearer of the BJP’s minority cell. Dhangekar claimed Shaikh was associated with Mohol and allegedly attacked right-wing activists, while BJP leaders accused him of giving the issue a communal colour.

Dhangekar also posted a photograph showing Rafiq and Mohol together.