Shiv Sena rakes up 4 past cases to target Narayan Rane, Maharashtra CM says ‘old virus is back’

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena, through its mouthpiece Saamna, on Thursday raked up four old criminal cases from Sindhudurg district — three of murder/deaths and a fourth of disappearance — to try and indirectly implicate union minister Narayan Rane and demanded that the Uddhav Thackeray government initiate a fresh probe to find out “those responsible for ruining the lives of” the four activists. Also, at a private event related to industries, CM Uddhav Thackeray said without naming Rane that “apart from the coronavirus, the state has to tackle a few old viruses too.”“The Thackeray government should begin a new probe to find those who were responsible for destroying the lives of Shridhar Naik, Ramesh Govekar, Satyavijay Bhise and Ankush Rane (all from Sindhudurg),” Saamna wrote in its second consecutive editorial on the former Sena CM who was arrested by the Thackeray government for his “slap CM” remark on Tuesday and released on bail by Mahad court the same night.Rashmi, wife of CM Uddhav Thackeray, is editor of Saamna, while Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut is executive editor who usually writes the editorials. In 1991, Shridhar Naik, a Congress youth leader, was brutally murdered in Kankavli. Rane was one of the accused in the case and was acquitted in 1997 when he was minister in the then Sena-BJP alliance government in Maharashtra. Satyavijay Bhise, an NCP worker, was killed in Kankavli in 2002, while Sena man Ramesh Govekar went missing in 2005 and Ankush Rane’s body was found in Sindhudurg in 2009.The Saamna editorial further stated, “Since Rane is not a ‘normal’ man, he has undermined the pride and prestige of Maharashtra” more than any enemy of the state. “At least, now the BJP should learn,” it added. The paper also said that Rane was a “guest” for the few days in the Modi cabinet as Modi considered himself as ‘fakir’, while Rane looks at himself as ‘mahaan’ (great).Meanwhile, CM Thackeray said at an event on Thursday that the Covid crisis has still not been cleared. “Some old virus has come back and without reason is creating side-effects. So we have to tackle both the viruses during the current window period,” he said.