Atul Patil, a 30-year-old Gram Panchayat member and BJP leader, was brutally stabbed to death Tuesday morning in Pipla, Saoner tehsil, Maharashtra. The police suspect individuals connected to the local land mafia were behind the killing.
Patil was a vocal whistleblower who had exposed multiple illegal land deals. He had filed complaints against unauthorized land developments involving village sarpanch Vishnu Kokadde, a Congress leader and associate of former Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar.
The murder has intensified political tensions in the region, especially with the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections. Police have arrested two suspects: Himanshu Kumbhalkar, 19, the prime accused, and Vishnu Kokadde, 41, previously charged with forgery and cheating in a land scam revealed by Patil.
Using the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Patil uncovered fake documents used to promote illegal layouts. His efforts led to several cases against Kokadde, the Gram Panchayat secretary, and others. It is alleged that Kokadde and his wife, former Nagpur Zilla Parishad president Muktabai Kokardde, exploited political influence to issue fraudulent No Objection Certificates, making crores from illegal land deals.
