Amid fierce criticism by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) that the law and order had ordered broken down in the State, the Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the alleged “murder” of journalist Shashikant Warishe in Ratnagiri district.
Forty-eight-year-old Warishe — who was working for a local Marathi newspaper “Mahanagri Times” — was mowed down by a speeding vehicle driven by a land dealer in Ratnagiri district on February 6. He succumbed to injuries at a local hospital on the following day.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the State Home portfolio, directed the state police administration to set up an SIT under a senior officer to investigate the alleged “murder” of Warishe, who was knocked down by a vehicle belonging to a local land dealer against whom the latter had written articles in his
newspaper.
Warishe, who had written a series of articles against the proposed complex of Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) coming up with foreign collaboration, at Barsu, had published an article that named Pandharinath Amberkar, a supporter of the proposed refinery and alleged that he was criminal.