MUMBAI, Jan 28(TOI): Popat Shinde, the main accused in the burning alive of additional collector Yeshwant Sonawane, had reportedly approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) between January 10 and 15 complaining that a section of government officials in the Manmad area were harassing him for bribes. An attempt was reportedly made to trap the officials, but it did not succeed.

ACB acting director-general K Subramamanyam said he was not aware of any complaint by Shinde, but a home department official said, "We too heard about Shinde's complaint, but so far we have no information if he has made the complaint in writing or otherwise."

Shinde, who is critical in JJ Hospital with 70% burns, has reportedly spoken to the police. "Our information is that police officials spoke to Shinde, but the details are awaited," said T P Lahane, JJ dean.

Meanwhile, 11 people have been arrested for burning the Malegaon additional collector. Four of them are members of Shinde's family.

The arrested men have reportedly told police that Sonawane's personal assistant (PA) and driver were being bribed by the oil mafia.

The accused reportedly told the police that PA Raju Kale and driver Kailash Gawli were each being paid Rs 2,000 every month. The duo would come to collect their hafta regularly. Kale and Gawli were with Sonawane on Tuesday when the murder occurred. They sped away with the car when Sonawane was attacked.

The murder happened between 2.15 pm and 2.30 pm at Panewadi village, 10 km from Manmad. Police said that Sonawane had gone to Chandwad taluka on Tuesday morning, where there was a protest by the Onion Exporters' Association. After the protest, he was returning to Nandgaon for a meeting. As the 44-year-old bureaucrat was travelling down Panewadi's main road, he spotted an oil tanker behind Sagar Dhaba, now a warehouse owned by Shinde, the main accused in the case. Sonawane stopped his car and saw kerosene being unloaded from a tanker and loaded into a truck. He began capturing the scene on his mobile phone's video camera, but one man present called up Shinde to inform of him of the development. A heated argument turned into a nasty brawl. Shinde, who had been at home attending a ritual on the 10th day after his wife's death, then arrived on a motorbike with his minor son Kunal.

There was an exchange of words during which Kunal allegedly hit Sonawane with an iron rod. When Sonawane fell, Popat told his employees to get kerosene, which they poured on him. Kale and Gawli, who were also manhandled and drenched with kerosene, fled in the car. Sonawane was set on fire and the blaze spread to Popat, who had been also drenched.

Sub-inspector Kishore Kumar Pardesi said that Kale and Gawli reached the Nandgaon tehsildar's office and informed him of the incident. Since Sagar Dhaba is owned by Popat, police went looking for him. They did not find him at his home, despite rituals for his wife's death being in progress. When the police arrived at the warehouse, they found a badly burnt Sonawane lying nearby. Grass in a two-metre radius was charred around him. He was rushed to hospital.

Popat's men had rushed him to a private hospital in Manmad and then to the Malegaon General Hospital. Later, he was shifted to Nashik Civil Hospital. After his health deteriorated, he was rushed to Mumbai's JJ Hospital.

The police are now exploring if any employee of the oil firm whose oil was being transported was also involved. "It's not easy for the driver and cleaner to make a duplicate key," said an officer.

The Manmad police have arrested prime accused Popat Shinde, his minor son Kunal, 17, his son Vikas, 19, Ajay Sonawane, 25, Imran Khan, 25, Haqqani Khan, 49, Popat's son-in-law Deepak Borse, 32, Popat's employee Raju Shirsat, Macchindra Suradkar, Sitaram Bhalerao and Tausif Sheikh. Haqqani and Imran were the cleaner and driver of the tanker.

All the accused have been sent to police custody till February 8. They have been booked for murder under the Indian Penal Code and under various sections of the Essential Commodities Act. Eight of them were kept in a 10-by-10-square-foot lock-up of the Manmad police station on Thursday. When TOI visited the lock-up, two of them were sleeping under blankets and two others were sitting and talking. Four others were taken to court.

A shocked Manmad was fully shut down in protest on Thursday. The accused were picked up from Malegaon and Manmad on Tuesday itself. Thousands of people thronged the Manmad city court to get a glimpse of the culprits. Six accused, all handcuffed and tied with a single rope, were produced in a crowded courtroom on Wednesday afternoon. Public prosecutor Ajay Misar told the court that the authorities need the suspects' custody to determine the fuel used in the killing and recover some weapons. "Some accused are yet to be traced," Misar said.

The police have seized a motor bike, a diesel tanker, a Bagpiper bottle, oil drums, etc. Sonawane's clothes, his burnt mobile phone and soil samples have been sent to the forensic laboratory for a chemical and soil analysis. On Wednesday, a team of forensic experts collected more samples from the crime scene.
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