Mumbai: Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and newly-elected MP Padamsinh Patil has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Maharashtra's former home minister was picked up in Mumbai in connection with the murder of his cousin, Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, who was gunned down in Kalamboli near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 2006.
Hours after his arrest, Patil complained of chest pain and was admitted at the J J Hospital.
"The matter has been referred to the Speaker of Lok Sabha. You can obtain information from there," said Ejaz Khan, CBI advocate.
The arrest comes a week after Patil's name surfaced in a statement of another accused, Parasmal Jain. In his statement to the police, Jain said that he was given a 'supari' - an assignment for the killing by Dombivali corporator Mohan Shukla. And Shukla claimed the equation between Patil and Nimbalkar had been deteriorating.
Soon after Nimbalkar's murder, fingers had been pointed at Patil but he had then denied the allegations. Another accused had even named Patil in his narco-analysis test.
Unhappy with the investigation, Nimbalkar's wife moved the Bombay High Court and had the case transferred to the CBI. But for five months, the CBI did nothing.
Whatever the outcome be, the arrest is sure to have a political fallout, besides being a blow to the image of the NCP.
Sources say Padmasinh Patil could be named as the main conspirator. But does the CBI, apart from the statement of another accused have enough evidence against him? Not as yet and that will be the focus of their investigation.