Bombay high court seeks status report from CBI in Nimgade murder case in Nagpur

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Monday sought a status report from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the murder of veteran architect Eknath Nimgade.
Ever since the probe was handed over to the premier investigating agency by the HC on October 17, 2016, there’s been hardly any progress in the murder. The HC bench has asked CBI to file a status report within two weeks.
The senior citizen was shot five times by assailants when he was returning from a morning walk on September 6, 2016, at Lal Imli Chowk. The Tehsil police had registered a case of murder and formed as many as 15 squads to trace the assailants.
In his 70s, the deceased allegedly had many disputes with builders and developers over property worth Rs200 crore, which is slated to be the main reason for his assassination. Eight shots had been fired at him, of which five bullets pierced his body, police said.
After the police failed to find the culprits for a long time, his son and lawyer Anupam had approached the judiciary, demanding inquiry by CBI. His family members had also claimed the police had been pressurizing them to make confessions and were shoddy in their investigations.
The petitioner questioned efficiency of cops to probe the murder, said other family members were under threat till the accused are not caught. He had even demanded police protection for his family members. However, even the CBI failed to make any headway in the killing and filed a closure report in the court in December last year.
Then, in March this year, the city police claimed to have cracked the murder mystery and rounded up nine out of 14 accused, claiming it was a case of contract killing for Rs5 crore. According to them, it was carried out by an interstate gang that included a sharpshooter from Uttar Pradesh. A Kamptee-based don was said to be the mastermind. The police have handed over the accused to CBI along with a list of their accomplices.