Mumbai, Apr 15 (PTI) An office-bearer of the Shiv Sena and three others have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 35-year-old man, killing him and setting his body on fire over a financial dispute in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, police said on Tuesday.

The police arrested the accused last week in connection with the crime that occurred two years ago, an official said.

He said the victim, Siddhivinayak alias Prakash Bidwakal, a resident of Chendwan in Kudal, went missing from his home in 2023, and based on a complaint lodged by his family, the police registered a case a few days ago.

A special investigation team (SIT) was formed on the instructions of Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Agarwal, and a probe revealed that Bidwakal worked for Siddhesh Ashok Shirsat, a local office-bearer of the Shiv Sena.

The official said the police team found that Bidwakal had borrowed money from Siddhesh Shirsat and his friend Ganesh Narvekar.

According to the police, Siddhesh Shirsat and Narvekar kidnapped Bidwakal from his residence and confined him in a house belonging to another accused, Amol Shirsat, a resident of Pinguli.

The accused allegedly beat up the victim brutally and killed him, the official said, adding that the men also recorded a video of the assault.

The accused then destroyed the evidence by setting the body on fire in a crematorium, he said.

The official said Siddhesh Shirsat and his aides transported the remains in two gunny bags to Satarda village in a remote hilly area and threw them into the Terekhol River.

The accused, Siddhesh Shirsat (44), Ganesh Narvekar (33), Sarvesh Kerkar (29) and Amol Shirsat (32), were produced in court, and three of them were remanded in police custody.

Reacting to the arrests, the Shiv Sena (UBT) drew a parallel to the murder of Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh and claimed that the law and order situation had “collapsed” in Sindhudurg district, which is a stronghold of BJP MP Narayan Rane.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that 27 people were murdered in Sindhudurg, of which nine were from his party. He, however, did not mention the period these deaths took place.

Without taking any names, former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vaibhav Naik alleged that the local legislator, in an apparent reference to Narayan Rane’s son Nilesh Rane, made phone calls to the police to save the accused.

While Narayan Rane is the MP representing Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, his sons Nilesh and Nitesh are local MLAs from Kudal and Kankavali, respectively, and the former is also Sindhudurg’s guardian minister. PTI DC PR ARU