Slain member's widow wins ZP by-poll

Nagpur, Feb 11 (UNI) The widow of the Nagpur Zilla Parishad (ZP) Shiv Sena member, who was done to death a few months ago, has won the by-election held to fill up the vacancy caused by her husband's murder.

Nanda Lohabare, the Shiv Sena nominee, defeated her nearest rival, Laxman Ubale of the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) combine, by a margin of over 3,500 votes in the by-poll held from Tarsa circle today, official sources said.

Ms Lohabare is the widow of Gopal Lohabare, the member from the same constituency, who was killed by unidentified assailants near the village on August 19 last. The murder is suspected to have been the outcome of old enmity.

Incidentally, Dnyaneshwar Sathawane, a former vice president of the ZP, was lynched to death in the village, about 45 kilometres from here, during a public meeting that was held on February 7 in connection with the by-election. The meeting was attended by Maharashtra Minister for Public Works Anil Deshmukh. A mob beat Mr Sathawane to death, accusing him of having been involved in Mr Lohabare's murder. The police had questioned Mr Sathawane in connection with Mr Lohabare's murder once, but never named him as a suspect.

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