Overview

• Police say a car was used to deliberately run over two men around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday during the Ganesh Visarjan procession in Thane’s Wagle Estate.
• The deceased was identified as Vitthal Gaikar, 42, while his friend Shankar Varthe, 45, remains in critical condition.
• Investigators allege prime accused Santosh Pawar rammed Gaikar and ran over him multiple times, also injuring Varthe, before fleeing.
• An FIR for murder was registered at Srinagar Police Station, with two associates — Mahesh and Amit Pawar — detained as a manhunt continues for Santosh Pawar.
• Police attribute the violence to an old land dispute; local reports say the spot is near Deputy CM Eknath Shinde’s residence and describe the accused as a worker of his Shiv Sena faction.