Why ex-Shiv Sena corporator Ashok Sawant was murdered, reveal accused

Jagdish Pawar and Abhishek Mane had been on the run since the murder of Ashok Sawant

The Samata Nagar police yesterday nabbed two more accused in the murder of former Shiv Sena corporator Ashok Sawant, in Sangli. They were caught after almost after two months, when they arrived there to meet one of their relatives. They have been identified as Jagdish Pawar, 42, the key accused in the murder, and his aide Abhishek Mane, 28. Pawar is also known as Jagga, and Mane is known as Blacky. During the interrogation, both revealed that they killed Sawant over an old rivalry. It was a well-planned murder and decided long back.

"Pawar, Mane, and a minor boy stabbed Sawant multiple times. The minor was arrested earlier from Pune," said a police official from Samata Nagar police station. The accused were produced before a court, which sent them to police custody till March 23, police said.

On January 7, Sawant, a former Sena corporator, was returning home on a two-wheeler with a colleague when he was accosted a few metres away from his building in Kandivli (east), and stabbed to death.

Soon after the murder, the police arrested former constable Deepak Hanawate, 50, along with five others, including the minor. However, the two accused held in Sangli had been on the run.

Also read: Mumbai Crime: Minor detained in Shiv Sena corporator's killing

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