Thane police with arrested accused | Photo Credit: ANI

Mumbai: The Thane Police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the murder case of Shiv Sena leader from Shahapur, Shailesh Nimse. The police have arrested the Shiv Sena leader’s wife and a man in connection with the crime. The man arrested is suspected to be a contract killer. Nimse’s half-burnt body was found at Ganeshpuri near Devchole village in Bhiwandi tehsil on April 20. The Thane Police said they are also on the lookout for three more men who are suspected to be involved in the crime.

Revealing the reason behind the ‘contract killing’, police said Nimse's wife Sakshi alias Vaishali Nimse (34) hatched his murder plan due to his alleged illicit relationship with a woman. The 43-year-old Nimse was Shiv Sena's former office-bearer of Shahapur tehsil. The contract killer has been identified as Pramod Lute (32), Thane Rural Additional Superintendent of Police Prashant Kadam said, as per a report in Mid-Day. Kadam said Sakshi gave a 'supari' of Rs 1.5 lakh to Lute to kill his husband over his illicit relationship.

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Lute, who was earlier detained, told police during questioning that he murdered Nimse with assistance from his friends and disposed of the body at Ganeshpuri. According to police, fights were a regular affair between Nimse and his wife Sakshi over the former’s extramarital affair. Kadam said Nimse even used to thrash his wife. She took the extreme step fearing her husband might abandon her and deprive her of property rights.

"The conspiracy to murder Nimse was hatched at Lute's house at Atgaon in Shahapur. As planned, the door of the house was kept ajar on the night of April 20 to let the killers enter easily. Once they came in, they strangulated Nimse using a belt. Thereafter, they took his body in his car and burnt it at Devchole village," Kadam said.