Vilasrao Deshmukh wants Congress to go alone in Maharashtra Assembly polls

Mumbai. June 9 (ANI): Former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Tuesday said the Congress Party should go alone in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The above statement came after NCP MP Padamsinh Patil was arrested by the CBI in the case of the murder of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar.

Patil's arrest has also increased pressure on NCP leader Sharad Pawar.

"I do not want to influence the inquiry process in any way by making a comment. 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.

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)