Three arrested in Shiv Sena leader Purnekar murder case
The Thane City police Special Investigation Team arrested two additional persons on Thursday in connection with the murder of Pradeep Purnekar, a Shiv Sena UBT shakha pramukh who was stabbed and shot dead on Tuesday night. The two newly arrested accused, identified as Nikhil Yadav and Nitesh Pawar, were apprehended near Raigad on the Mumbai-Goa highway. Combined with the earlier arrest of Purnekar's aide-turned-rival Pappya Shinde, a total of three persons have now been arrested in the case.
Two more accused remain on the run, including Santosh Kanojia alias Talli and another unidentified accused seen wearing a helmet. A senior SIT official stated that clarity on the exact roles of the accused—specifically who was the shooter and who stabbed the deceased—would only emerge after the remaining absconding accused are arrested and interrogated together. The SIT has also called two Mira Road-based women for enquiry. The investigation, initially registered at Kapurbawdi police station, was transferred to the Thane crime branch, with an SIT formed under DCP Amar Sinh Jadhav.
Purnekar's son submitted a supplementary statement naming several people, including former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde and her husband Rajendra Shinde, for investigation. The couple denied the allegations. Police said the SIT was examining several possible motives behind the killing, including an angle involving a local woman whom Purnekar had allegedly caught with two men.
