Meenakshi Shinde denies role in Purnekar murder, demands Aaditya Thackeray's arrest
Former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde rejected the Purnekar family's allegations at a press conference and called the audio clip shared by Sanjay Raut AI-generated.
The murder of Pradeep Purnekar, a divisional chief of the Thackeray faction in Thane's Manpada area, has caused a stir in political circles. Five men entered his office, shot him and killed him with sickle attacks. The Purnekar family has made allegations against Meenakshi Shinde, a leader of the Shinde Sena, and her husband Rajendra Shinde.
Kapurbawdi police have registered a case and a man named Papya Shinde has been arrested. Purnekar's relatives had expressed suspicion about Meenakshi Shinde and her husband and demanded action. The police investigation is continuing.
Meanwhile, Thackeray faction MP Sanjay Raut shared on social media an alleged audio clip of Meenakshi Shinde, a leader of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and former mayor of Thane. Raut claimed the clip was hers and made allegations against her on that basis. This caused a major political stir in Thane.
Following the allegations, Meenakshi Shinde held a press conference on October 2 and put forth her side. She rejected the Purnekar family's allegations. She said an attempt was being made to implicate her in the case with no evidence. She also said she was being targeted precisely because of her links to the Shinde faction.
Meenakshi Shinde alleged that Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray and Sanjay Raut had politicised the incident.
At the press conference, she referred to the Disha Salian case, put a question to Sanjay Raut and, citing the allegations in that case, demanded the arrest of Aaditya Thackeray. She said: "In the Disha Salian case, her father was making rounds of the police station for six years. The names of Aaditya and Uddhav Thackeray are in that FIR. I only want to ask Sanjay Raut this: she too was someone's daughter. Did you then demand that Aaditya Thackeray be arrested?" Meenakshi Shinde also said an attempt was made to destroy evidence when Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister.
Saying any allegation requires proof, she rejected the charges against her. She said her name was being linked to a case with which she had no connection. She also asked whether, if a plane were hijacked tomorrow, it would be said that Meenakshi Shinde was behind it. She said the police investigation would make clear who was guilty and that she would cooperate fully with the inquiry.
On the audio clip, Meenakshi Shinde rejected Raut's claim. She says the clip is AI-generated.
On a photograph with the accused, she said she was born in this ward and that she and her husband have ties with many residents of the area. Being photographed with a person is not proof of involvement in a crime, she said. As the police investigation into the Purnekar murder is under way, the allegations of political leaders and those concerned must be kept separate from the established findings of the probe.
