Life term to 3 for setting additional district collector Yashwant Sonawane on fire in 2011

The three men convicted by the trial court were employees of the prime accused Popat Shinde, who also suffered burns and succumbed to his injuries a few days later

Mumbai: The Malegaon sessions court on Thursday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for murdering additional district collector Yashwant Sonawane by setting him on fire after he tried to stop a fuel adulteration mafia in 2011.

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The three men convicted by the trial court were employees of the prime accused Popat Shinde, who also suffered burns and succumbed to his injuries a few days later.

Rajendra Devidas Shirsath, Machhindra Piraji Suradkar and Ajay Magan Sonawane were convicted on the eyewitness testimonies, particularly those of Sonwane’s driver and his personal assistant, who had accompanied the government officer to the spot where the gruesome incident occurred.

The gruesome murder of the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, who was killed trying to put a stop to the activities of a fuel adulteration mafia, captured national headlines.

On January 25, 2011, Sonawane, who was posted as the additional collector at Malegaon, was driving towards Nandgaon with his PA Rajendra Kale and driver Kailash Gavli. Along the way, at Jondhalwadi in Manmad, he saw a few people drawing kerosene from a tanker and transferring it to a truck near a dhaba owned by Popat Shinde. Sonawane instructed Gavli to stop the vehicle and stepped down to inspect this. Realising that an illegal activity was taking place, Sonawane called the Supply Inspector and asked him to prepare a panchnama. Shinde arrived at the spot with his son, a minor at the time, and assembled around Sonawane with the other accused.

The men started hitting Sonawane with sticks and iron rods. Shinde then poured oil on Sonawane and set him on fire. Sonawane sustained 100% burns and died on the spot, while Shinde, who also got burnt in the incident, died in a hospital few days later.

It was later revealed that in August 2010 Sonawane had prepared a report which documented that his office seized had 4,000 litres of kerosene and 3,000 litres of petrol from Shinde’s dhaba in Panewadi village in Manmad. Sonawane suggested the police seal the oil found and take action against Shinde under the Essential Commodities Maintenance Act (ESMA). News reports at the time also revealed that six FIRs and an externment order were registered against Shinde between 2006 and 2010.

The prosecution claimed that Shinde’s dhaba served as a point for the pilferage, storage, and illegal sale of petrol. It further claimed that kerosene was used to adulterate petrol meant for the Public Distribution System.

The Manmad police station registered a case against 12 persons. The investigation was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, which filed a chargesheet against the three convicts in November 10, 2011.