Click to play videoMumbai: NCP is on the backfoot after their senior leader and MP Padmasinh Patil was arrested for his involvement in the murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar in 2006.
Back then the local police had rubbished all allegations against Patil, prompting activist Anna Hazare for a CBI investigation.
“Maharashtra state government and NCP is responsible for protecting him for so long. Why the state police could not find out Padmasinh Patil's involvement in three years and how CBI did it within 15 days after High Court's order,” Hazare said.
With Padmasinh Patil's name cropping up in the Pawanraje Nimbalkar murder case, the state machinery went into cover-up mode.
It is believed that despite the presence of eyewitnesses at the murder site, the local police did not call them for recording of statement. One month after the incident, the local police decided it could not make a breakthrough in the case and handed it over to the local crime branch.
The local crime branch on its part arrested four alleged Chhota Rajan gangsters, including Tanaji who named Padmasinh Patil.
The local crime branch then took its own time and claimed it wanted to conduct the narco test on Tanaji again.
Later in June 2006, RR Patil, then deputy chief minister, also from the NCP, cleared Patil's name from the case papers granting him a complete clean chit.
After much lobbying, Nimbalkar’s family convinced the Bombay High Court to transfer the case to CBI in October 2008.
“Government and police officials were not paying attention which is why we had to get into it. The CBI has been on it for three-four months. At least now they've made an arrest,” Son of Pawanraje Nimbalkar, Ompraje Nimbalkar said.
It is not just this arrest, NCP President Sharad Pawar's Man Friday has flirted with many controversies in the past as well, including sugar cooperative scams, stealing money from farmer subsidies, and misusing Kargil war funds and flood and earthquake relief.
Padmasinh Patil has often been described as the muscleman of NCP leader Sharad Pawar.
The arrest of Patil and that too on the charge of murder, has not only created trouble for him, but has rocked the crisis-ridden NCP. With the state elections just four months away the NCP will soon have to come up with some face-saving measures.
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