Police Arrest Suspected Killers Of Datta Samant

Police yesterday arrested two of the five assailants who gunned down veteran trade union leader Datta Samant on January 16 outside hos Powai residence in the northern suburbs of Mumbai.

The assailants were rounded up in Kolhapur at 4.30 pm last evening.

The assailants Vijay and Arun will be flown in aboard a special plane today morning, joint commissioner of police R S Sharma said.

However, the police still do not have any clues on the motive of the assassination. Sharma said the interrogation was not yet complete.

According to the statement of the assailants, they were a group of five although police have maintained that four men had attacked Samant.

 

The assailants had also admitted that one of them fired at the driver of Samants Tata Sumo while another fired at the trade union leader at point blank range, Sharma said. The Kolhapur police also recovered .9 mm and .32 mm pistols from the assailants.

Earlier in the evening, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde, while presiding over the 23rd annual awards function of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, announced the arrest.