Maharashtra Deputy CM orders SIT probe in Marathi journalist's death case

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 11 : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered to constitute of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a senior officer to probe the case of journalist Shashikant Warise who was murdered in Ratnagiri, informed Maharashtra Deputy CM office on Saturday.
Marathi journalist, Shashikant Warishe was killed in a road accident on February 6, hours after his report against the proposed Nanar refinery in Ratnagiri was published after an office-bearer of a group backing the refinery was arrested.
The police said on Tuesday said that journalist Warishe was standing near a petrol pump on the Rajapur highway when the accused allegedly ran him over with his car. The vehicle reportedly dragged Warish for several meters under the wheels before coming to a halt.
"When people rushed to help, the accused fled from the spot and Varishe was lying unconscious on the road. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment but succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning," he added.
A senior police officer will head the SIT, an official statement from the office of Deputy CM said.
Recently, Warishe carried a report describing one Amberkar as a 'criminal' and highlighted photographs where he is seen in the same frame with the Chief Minister and Prime Minister.
Amberkar, a leader of the local land mafia, was known to threaten and harass those who resisted any land acquisition on behalf of the upcoming refinery.
Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni said that the accused was arrested and produced before the court, which sent him to police custody till February 13.
"Police said that as soon as we came to know about the incident, we swung into action and by late evening traced the accused and arrested him. We produced him in the court on Tuesday morning," he added.
Ratnagiri's Rajapur police had initially registered a culpable homicide not amounting to murder, but later the police added IPC section 302 against accused Amberkar.
On Friday, the Journalist associations of Maharashtra, TVJA, Mumbai press club, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, BNP (Bombay news photographer association), and Mumbai crime reporter association protested across the state outside tehsil and district headquarters with black armbands against the alleged murder of journalist Warishe.
The Mumbai Press Club demanded to order for a "wide-ranging" probe into the murder.
"Though the local police have arrested the assassin Ambekar, there is a need for the Maharashtra Government to order a wide-ranging probe into the murder. This must include investigating a possible conspiracy, which may involve corporate elements, to strangle the local opposition to the refinery," a statement by the club said.
"The Mumbai Press Club demands that the killing be probed from all angles and that Pandarinath Ambekar, as well as those who have possibly conspired with him to carry out the killing, be brought to book. The Club also demands that Warishe's family be provided with protection during the investigation period and fair compensation for the murder of the breadwinner," it further said.