Barely three weeks after two Shiv Sena leaders were murdered in Ahmednagar, the district witnessed a fresh bout of violence after two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers were shot dead in Jamkhed Tehsil on Saturday evening.
The deceased have been identified as Yogesh Ambadas Ralebhat (30), NCP youth wing leader, and his cousin Rakesh Arjun Ralebhat (28), also a party worker.
“Prima facie, the crime appears to be the fallout of a local dispute rather than a case of political rivalry. One suspect has been identified. Further investigations are on,” said Superintendent of Police (Ahmednagar) Ranjan Kumar Sharma.
According to police sources, the two NCP workers were repeatedly shot at point-blank range by three motorcycle-borne assailants near an eatery on the Beed-Jamkhed road. No arrests have been made so far.
The shooters, who had their faces covered with handkerchiefs, arrived near the eatery in two motorbikes between 6:30 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and pumped Yogesh with bullets in the chest. Rakesh, who attempted in vain to shield his cousin, was fired upon as well.
As the shooters fled the scene, horrified onlookers rushed the duo to a local hospital in Jamkhed where they were declared dead on arrival.
Police sources said that at least eight bullet casings were retrieved from the scene of the crime. The assailants were believed to have used country-made pistols to execute their crime.
Earlier this month, two Shiv Sena leaders from Ahmednagar — Sanjay Kotkar and Vasant Thube — were murdered in the Ahmednagar’s Kedgaon area, sending shock waves across the district and prompting a vandalism spree on part of incensed Sena workers.
NCP MLA Sangram Jagtap, his father-in-law, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Shivaji Kardile and other politicos were taken into police custody in connection with the crime which is said to be the direct fallout of a bypoll to the Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation (AMC).
