In Amravati case, Maharashtra to probe Uddhav role in investigation

NAGPUR In an apparent effort to take the wind off the opposition tirade against CM Eknath Shinde, the Maharashtra government on Friday ordered a probe into whether former CM Uddhav Thackeray had tried to influence the Amravati police probe into the killing of pharmacist Umesh Kolhe earlier this year.

Kolhe, 54, was murdered in Amravati on June 21 this year by a group of people for sharing a message defending former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s objectionable comment on Prophet Muhammad on a public WhatsApp group that triggered a nationwide outrage.

Responding to a calling attention motion by the independent MLA Ravi Rana, Maharashtra minister Shambhuraje Desai told the state assembly that State Intelligence Department (SID) will investigate whether Thackeray had asked the Amravati commissioner of police Arti Singh to examine the robbery angle in Kolhe’s killing. The case is now being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

This is the second big blow for the Thackerays, coming a day after Shinde government announced a SIT to probe the killing of former celebrity manager Disha Salian. Several ruling alliance leaders have alleged involvement of Aditya Thackeray in Salian’s death, though he has strongly denied it.

“Me and Navneet Rana met Amit Shah in Delhi in this regard and told him that Uddhav was suppressing the case and it should be investigated by a national agency,” he said and added that the entire case later handed over to the NIA. “When the NIA team came from Delhi, it was revealed that Kolhe was killed because of his postings in social media in favour of Nupur Sharma,” Rana pointed out.

The NIA had arrested nine persons, including one Yusuf Khan, who had a good relationship with the victim. They both were members of a WhatsApp group on where Kolhe had shared the post.