Whistleblower Gram Panchayat member killed by land mafia

Hindustan Times

5 hours ago

NAGPUR: A 30-year-old Gram Panchayat member and BJP leader was brutally murdered on Tuesday morning in Saoner tehsil, allegedly by individuals linked to the land mafia. The victim, Atul Patil, was stabbed to death at Pipla, which falls under the jurisdiction of Khaparkheda police station in the district.
Patil, a vocal whistleblower who had exposed several land scams, had filed multiple complaints against illegal land dealings, including schemes orchestrated by village sarpanch Vishnu Kokadde, a Congress leader and a close associate of former Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar.
The murder has sparked outrage and raised political temperature in the region, especially as the Zilla Parishad (ZP) elections are near.
The police have arrested two suspects in connection with the murder - Himanshu Kumbhalkar, 19, who is the prime accused, and Vishnu Kokadde, 41, who had previously faced charges of forgery and cheating in a ZP land allotment scam exposed by Patil.
According to police sources, Patil had used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to uncover fake documents used to develop unauthorised layouts. His complaints led to the registration of cases against Kokadde, a Gram Panchayat secretary, and others. It is alleged that Kokadde and his wife, former Nagpur Zilla Parishad president Muktabai Kokardde, misused their political influence to issue fraudulent No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and earn crores of rupees through illegal land deals.
Senior Inspector Arvind Katlam of Khaparkheda police station revealed that Kumbhalkar had called Patil out of his house under the pretext of resolving an old dispute. 'As Patil stepped outside, he was ambushed. A brief scuffle broke out, but Kumbhalkar overpowered him and stabbed him multiple times,' said Katlam.
Patil was rushed to a nearby private hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Both accused were produced in Saoner court, where Kumbhalkar was remanded to police custody till June 21 and Kokadde till June 19, for further investigation.
The murder is also believed to be linked to the political rivalry between Patil and Kokardde in the area. However, police officials maintain that the land scam exposure appears to be the main motive.
BJP leaders staged a 'rasta roko' protest demanding swift justice and immediate arrest of all those involved in the conspiracy. The agitation was led by local MLA Ashish Deshmukh and district president Manohar Kumbhare, who accused the authorities of failing to protect a whistleblower. Deshmukh has also demanded that the case be heard in a fast-track court.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the region to prevent any law and order issues.