Satara doctor suicide: After clean chit to Naik-Nimbalkar, CM Fadnavis gives ‘cold-shoulder’

Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were in the city for the inauguration of the emblem and mascot of the “Pune Grand Tour”, a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) 2.2 race to be held from January 19 to 23.

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The son of former Shiv Sena Satara MP Hindurao Naik Nimbalkar, Ranjitsinh first won the Lok Sabha polls from Madha in 2019.

Three days after giving a clean chit to Ranjeetsinh Naik Nimbalkar over the suicide by a doctor in Phaltan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday gave a cold-shoulder to the former BJP MP, who finds himself caught in a political storm.

Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar were in the city for the inauguration of the emblem and mascot of the “Pune Grand Tour”, a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) 2.2 race to be held from January 19 to 23.

Nimbalkar had apparently sought an appointment with the CM in Pune. He was seen in the same hotel on Wednesday where the CM and deputy CM attended the function. The CM left without meeting him.

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“I don’t think the chief minister avoided meeting Nimbalkar. Maybe because of his busy schedule, he did not have time to meet Nimbalkar,” BJP spokesperson Keshav Upadhaye told The Indian Express.

On Sunday, the CM had backed the former MP in the controversy. “If I had even an ounce of doubt, I would not have come to Phaltan for inauguration of development projects… Some people are in the habit of politicising everything. Attempts are being made to drag names of Nimbalkar and Sachin Patil,” he had said.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) held press conferences and alleged Nimbalkar and his close associates were framing false cases against contractors and political opponents, turning the heat on the Mahayuti government, especially the BJP to which the former MP belongs.

In her suicide note, the doctor alleged police and a former MP put pressure on her to change medical reports of some arrested accused. The doctor was found dead in a hotel room in Phaltan on October 24. In the suicide note scribbled on her palm, she named PSI Gopal Badane and a techie Prashant Bankar as those responsible for her death. She alleged Badane had raped her four times.

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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve had questioned the CM’s logic behind giving a clean chit to the BJP leader. “Is the CM an investigating officer? He should have waited for the police report before giving a clean chit to Nimbalkar,” Danve said.

On Monday, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sushma Andhare alleged the doctor did not end her life but was murdered. “We suspect it was not a suicide but murder. The doctor’s sister has confirmed the handwriting on her palm is not hers.”

At a press conference in Pune, Andhare said a probe should be conducted against Nimbalkar. “Nimbalkar and his personal assistants had put pressure on the doctor to change the medical report of an arrested contractor. Nimbalkar had spoken to the doctor on the phone and pulled her up,” she alleged.

Nimbalkar has denied the allegations. “I am in no way connected to the incident. The doctor ended her life by hanging herself. She had written the names of those responsible. The opposition is indulging in politics… It is taking my name with the intention to defame the CM,” he said.

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The Satara police have repeatedly emphasised that they are not probing the role of Nimbalkar. “We are not concerned with political allegations. We are probing what had been written on the palm of the deceased doctor. We have arrested the two persons who were named by the doctor. Further investigation is going on,” Satara SP Tushar Doshi said.

Besides Nimbalkar, even Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol was kept away by the CM on Wednesday. Mohol had been embroiled in a controversy related to the sale of Jain trust property located in Model Colony area of the city. BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar said, “It is not necessary that the minister needs to remain present when the CM is attending a function.”

Nimbalkar is a former MP from Madha Lok Sabha constituency. He won the seat in 2019 on a BJP ticket after shifting from Congress. He was president of Satara district Congress. In 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Nimbalkar was however defeated by Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil of NCP (SP). Nimbalkar is the chairman and managing director of the Swaraj Green Power and Fuel Limited.

Manoj Dattatrye More

Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades. Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives. Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees. During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa. Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died. Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More

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