Sangram Kotkar, son of the deceased Sanjay Kotkar, has alleged that the three aforesaid MLAs had threatened his father with dire consequences for helping a Shiv Sena candidate in the recently-concluded Nagar Municipal Corporation by-poll. The police have formed a special investigation team to probe the killing in view of the conflicting claims. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home Deepak Kesarkar said the government had taken a serious note of the killings. “Strict action would be taken against the accused, notwithstanding that they are political leaders or workers,” he said. Three Shiv Sena leaders — Deepak Kesakar, Divakar Ravatey and Ramdas Kadam — were in the city to ensure that the accused were arrested. Additional DG of Maharashtra Bipin Bihari is also in the city.