Pawar says law will take its own course in Patil arrest case

New Delhi, June 7 (ANI): Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the "law will take its own course" in the case of the murder of Maharashtra Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, in which his party MP Padamsinh Patil was arrested by the CBI.

"I do not want to influence the inquiry process in any way by making a comment," Pawar said when asked for his reaction on the arrest of the senior NCP leader from Osmanabad.

"Law will take its own course. We have full faith in the judiciary," Pawar said.

The CBI arrested Patil for his alleged involvement in the 2006 murder of Nimbalkar. The CBI said it had informed Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar about the investigation and developments in the murder case, as Patil is an MP.

Patil was on Sunday sent to seven days Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody by a Panvel court after he was arrested. The custody comes up for review on June 14.

Earlier, Superintendent of Police, CBI, Amitabh Thakur, confirming Patil's arrest, said he was being questioned at the CBI office in South Mumbai after an arrested accused Parasmal Jain claimed that Patil had ordered Nimbalkar"s murder.

According to a statement submitted by Jain, he was paid a supari (contract amount) of Rs.30 lakh by Patil to eliminate Nimbalkar due to business rivalry.

Two men on a motorcycle gunned down Nimbalkar and his driver Samad Qazi near Kopar Khairne, Navi Mumbai on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on June 3, 2006. The Kalamboli police did the initial investigations.

The Bombay High Court then transferred the case to CBI in October 2008.

In February this year, police arrested two men in connection with the murder. After interrogating the two, police found that Rs 30 lakh was paid to kill the Congress leader.

The CBI had earlier this year nabbed two people, and one of them had confessed to the murder of Nimbalkar at somebody"s behest. (ANI)