Sonawane cracked down on suspect 4 months ago

Shinde rushed there and had an altercation with Sonawane before he doused him with kerosene and set him ablaze,police said. Police sources said that Sonawane,on fire,broke into a run and was chased by Shinde who was carrying a canister of kerosene which spilled over and set him ablaze as well.

Shindes wife had passed away and many of his relatives had come visiting,some of them also came to the spot with him, said Manmad Senior Police Inspector Rafiq Shaikh.

Records accessed by The Indian Express confirm that Shinde had seven police cases against him for stealing diesel,petrol,kerosene and even one case of naptha pilferage.

FIRs against Shinde for alleged pilferage of fuel date as back as March 2001. Cases were filed against him in September 2003,December 2003,August 2009 and May 2010. There was also an externment order against him in 2006 and a preventive action order in 2010.

In all these cases,Shinde was found to allegedly have access to the keys that unlocked the tankers leaving petroleum installations in Manmad. As per norms,once a tanker is filled,its opened at the dealers end (at the petrol pump). Its key is available only with the company and with the dealer and no one,not even the drivers,have access to it en route.

As per the pilferage case against Shinde filed under the Essential Commodities Act on May 10,2010,a joint raid by the tehsildars office and the local police had found that an alleged theft of 3000 litres of petrol and 1000 litres of diesel. The raiding team also seized a tanker,MH 19 J 2678,which belonged to Shinde.

Shinde appealed and sought custody of the tanker. The final release order was to come from the office of Additional Collector of Malegaon,Sonawane,under whose jurisdiction Manmad falls.

It was after appeals at several levels that Sonawane issued an order on August 27,2010 to take custody of the pilfered commodities and to release the tanker only after the accused (Shinde) paid a penalty of 75 per cent of the total value seized.

The tanker remained in police custody until December 22 when Shinde furnished the bank guarantee and recovered the tanker.

At a meeting today of Revenue Department officials and senior police officials,several measures were discussed in the wake of Sonawanes murder. One proposal is the principle of No stopover for drivers inside a designated zone until they leave the district. This,officials said,will ensure that the tankers valves are not tinkered with when the drivers stop for a break at local dhabas.

At the scene of the crime,a team from the Nashik forensic laboratory took away samples of earth from the backyard where Sonawane was burnt to death and at the makeshift room behind the dhaba where the pilferage is supposed to have happened regularly.

The dhaba,sources said,never served food as it was just a makeshift arrangement for pilferage. Its barely 1 km away from major oil installations of BPCL,HPCL and IOC.

At the scene,there were used clothes stained with oil. In a room in the backyard,the forensic team found that soil had been contaminated with a black fluid,suspected to be the result of illegal adulteration. On the walls of the dhaba are scribbled numbers and notings in litres.

This matter will be taken very seriously. He was a very upright officer and this probe will continue till we take all the required action, said Collector P Velarasu.