Thane, Oct 29 Former city Mayor and Shiv Sena leader Meenakshi Shinde on Thursday resigned as the party’s Thane district women’s wing chief, two days after she was questioned by police in connection with the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary Pradeep Purnekar.
In a letter addressed to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, she insisted she was stepping down not out of anger, but to protect the party’s prestige and safeguard the leadership from being cornered by Opposition parties over malicious allegations.
The development comes against the backdrop of intense political friction and unrelenting demands from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the victim’s grieving family, who have repeatedly targeted Meenakshi Shinde and her husband, Rajendra, accusing them of being the masterminds behind the September 29 murder of Pradeep Purnekar.
Meenakshi Shinde and her husband have consistently rejected the allegations.
The Thane police SIT probing the case has so far arrested five suspects, but they were yet to establish the motive behind the killing of Purnekar, who was Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Manpada division head in the city.
The case has sparked massive protests and counter-allegations.
On Tuesday, Meenakshi Shinde was interrogated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, a senior police officer asserted police were thoroughly probing all individuals whose names had cropped up during the investigation.
Ruling Shiv Sena and Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) are bitter rivals in Maharashtra politics.
(PTI News)
