Two arrested for murder of former Shiv Sena corporator

Two persons were today arrested in connection with the murder of former Shiv Sena corporator Ashok Sawant in suburban Kandivali.
Sawant was stabbed to death yesterday night near his residence in Thakur Complex while he was returning home with a friend.
Narrating the sequence of events, police said that Sawant was riding home with a friend, Vinod Sonwane, when an autorickshaw came along and one of its occupants kicked the motorcycle they were on.
Both Sawant and Sonwane fell and while the latter ran after the person who kicked their two-wheeler, a man got out of the autorickshaw and stabbed Sawant several times, police said.

Police added that by the time Sonwane returned, Sawant had been stabbed over 20 times and he succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital around midnight.
Police, on scouring the CCTV footage of the area, managed to zero in on the autorickshaw's driver, Ganesh Jogdand, who then was arrested from Dahisar.

Police said Jogdand's interrogation led them to his accomplice Sohail Dodhia who police said was not at the scene of crime but had given the contract of killing Sawant to Jogdand on behest of the main accused.
A case had been registered against the two arrested persons and a hunt was on for the main accused, an official said.

The motive for the crime was being investigated with police adding that Sawant had received a threat call from the main accused some time ago.
Sawant, a two time corporator from Kandivali, had entered the cable television business a couple of years ago, police added.
His son Abhijit said his family did not know about any business dispute involving Sawant adding that they found out today that Sawant had filed a police complaint a year ago about a threat call he had received.