Tougher anti-adulteration laws soon

Home minister RR Patil stood up for officials who reduced the externment period of Popat Shinde, the oil dealer named in the murder case of Nashik additional collector Yashwant Sonawane.

Home minister RR Patil stood up for officials who reduced the externment period of Popat Shinde, the oil dealer named in the murder case of Nashik additional collector Yashwant Sonawane.

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Sonawane was set alight when he tied to act against an oil adulteration racket allegedly run by Shinde.

“The last case registered against Shinde was in 2003. No other decision would have stood in court,” Patil said.

The Legislative Council had a discussion on adulteration, from that of oil to kerosene and milk. “There will be a new law to raise the punishment for such crimes. Fast-track courts will be set up,” Patil said.

Referring to a Hindustan Times report on diesel adulteration, MLC Vinod Tawde said: “A man named Jhunjhunwala, from the UAE, gets a chemical that is mixed in the diesel and transported across the state by a man named Vikrant.”