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Police, government give different versions on capture of Satara murder suspects

Michael Gonsalves in Pune

Even as Maharashtra's director general of police, Arvind Inamdar, claimed that the four men accused of the sensational murder of a Nationalist Congress Party activist in Satara town before dawn on polling day were arrested yesterday, top officials in the state home ministry said the suspects had surrendered on their own.

Minister of State for Revenue Udayan Bhosale, a 13th generation descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, was arrested on Saturday, September 11, in connection with the brutal murder of Sharad alias Appa Baban Levhe, a member of the Satara Municipal Council. The second phase of polling in the state took place that very day.

Bhosale later quit the state council of ministers. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who holds charge of the home department, ordered an inquiry by the Criminal Investigation Department of the state police into the murder.

Bhosale, the Bharatiya Janata Party's nominee for the state assembly from Satara, was contesting against arch rival and uncle Abhaysinhraje Bhosale of the NCP, a former member of Parliament and four times member of the state legislative assembly.

"Given the sensitivity of the case, even though the top brass wanted to hog the limelight by stating that the accused were arrested, the fact is that they surrendered to the police," said a top official of the BJP. The BJP partners the Shiv Sena in the coalition that rules the state.

The four accused are Yedu Narkar, Prashant Narkar, Sushil Mohjar and Sanjay Deshmukh. Police claimed to have arrested them from a dhaba on the outskirts of Satara on the Bangalore-Pune National Highway 4 on Tuesday.

The BJP official said associates of Udayan Bhosale, who had sheltered the accused in Satara, had advised them to surrender.

Meanwhile, Levhe's post-mortem report has given a new twist to the case. It says he died because of the thrashing he received with hockey sticks and not the wounds inflicted with swords. Vijay Jadhav, Levhe's driver, had identified Udayan Bhosale as having attacked his boss with a sword.

Bhosale, who was admitted to the Satara Civil Hospital after complaining of chest pain hours after his arrest, is still undergoing treatment. Remanded to magisterial custody till September 23, he has not moved any bail application so far.

Meanwhile, Abhaysinhraje has protested against the manner in which a large number of people are being allowed to visit his nephew. Being in magisterial custody, he cannot be given the privilege of having visitors in hospital, Bhosale Sr said.

He has also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the incident, claiming that the CID under Munde will only quash the case.

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