Senior NCP leader and MP Padamsinh Patil, arrested in Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar murder case, was on Sunday remanded to CBI custody till June 14 by a court in Panvel.
"Patil has been booked under section 302 (murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy). He has been remanded to our custody till June 14," said CBI counsel Ijaz Khan.
Patil was detained by the CBI late on Saturday night following arrests of four others in the case earlier.
Patil's arrest came after two of the arrested accused -- Parasmal Jain and Mohan Shukla -- named him in the 2006 case.
The CBI lawyer told the court that "both Jain and Shukla had named Padamsinh Patil as the one who paid 'Supari' (contract) of Rs 30 lakh and ordered killing of Nimbalkar."
CBI, which took over the investigation last year following a Bombay High Court directive, has earlier arrested four persons -- Parasmal Jain, Dinesh Tiwari, Mohan Shukla and Satish Mandade -- in the case.
Nimbalkar and his driver were shot dead in a car on June 3, 2006 at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai near here.
{{/usCountry}}Nimbalkar and his driver were shot dead in a car on June 3, 2006 at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai near here.
{{/usCountry}}Patil, once a state minister and now a Lok Sabha MP from Osmanabad district in Marathwada region, has denied any involvement in the murder, terming the allegations as part of a "malicious political campaign to malign my image".
Earlier, the case was being probed by Navi Mumbai police. But Nimbalkar's wife Anandibai moved the High Court, alleging that Padamsinh was involved in the case, and seeking a CBI probe.