Bhayandar : In less than 72 hours after a ward-level Shiv Sena leader Anil Chavhan escaped a bid on his life after being shot at by two bike borne assailants near Sai Kripa building in Kashimira on Tuesday night, the Thane (rural) police claim to have cracked the case.
Five men including the two assailants — Nitesh Patil alias Gotya (23) and Vetaal Patil (22) who opened fire on Chavhan — along with Vishal Choudhary (19) and the mastermind father-son duo identified as Avinash Dattaram Patil (49) and Sandesh Patil (23) have been arrested for their involvement in the crime.
According to the police, Chavhan was closely associated with Avinash Patil who holds the deputy city chief post of the local Shiv Sena unit and had also unsuccessfully contested the civic elections in 2012. However off late, Patil was upset over the rising popularity of Chavhan, who despite being sidelined from the party, continued to enjoy an extremely good rapport among the local populace and lower-level leaders and party cadres.
“Stung by his [Chavhan’s] soaring popularity, Patil — an aspiring corporator — had a sense of political insecurity and envisaged Chavhan as a threat in civic elections,” said an officer. Patil, along with his son Sandesh, hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Chavhan.
Assuring more monetary and logistic assistance in the future, the duo hired two Bhiwandi-based contract killers and gave them Rs 1 lakh and a revolver to execute the shootout. The father-son duo also roped in another local, Vishal Choudhary, to assist the contract killers in conducting a recce and identifying their target.
While all the accused have been booked under sections of the IPC and Arms Act, the police are yet to recover the firearm and biked used in the crime. As a token of appreciation, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Pradhan announced a cash prize of Rs 20,000 for the five teams for cracking the case in a short span of time.
