Ahmednagar village on edge after Paradhi man’s murder, call issued for bandh

A complaint of murder was lodged in the case by Venubai Kale, a relative of Pawar, at the Jamkhed police station. The police have booked five persons from Kharda, all belonging to the Maratha community, under sections 302, 34, 506 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

Ishu Sindhu, Superintendent, Ahmednagar police, said that prima-facie, the murder seems prompted by a financial dispute between Pawar and his attackers. “An offence has been lodged and search is on for the killers,” Sindhu told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, some groups have called for Kharda bandh following the murder.

It may be recalled that Kharda is the same village where a 17-year-old Dalit, Nitin Aagey, was murdered in 2014, allegedly because he was in a relationship with a Maratha girl. All those arrested for his murder were acquitted by the district and sessions court in Ahmednagar on November 23, 2017, as key witnesses turned hostile.