Nashik: Nationalist Congress Party leader Sanjay Shinde was burnt alive here on Tuesday evening after the car he was travelling in caught fire.
He was travelling on the Mumbai-Agra Highway when the wiring of his car short-circuited near the Pimpalgaon Baswant toll plaza.
Besides being a politician, Shinde is a well-known grape exporter in Nashik district, which is a leading wine manufacturing hub.
He was en route to Pimpalgaon to purchase pesticides for his orchard and was near the overbridge on River Kadva when the car developed a technical snag. Due to the short circuit, the car caught fire.
Going by the local people, the short circuit caused a spark which led to the highly flammable hand sanitiser kept in the car to catch fire.
Soon after it caught fire, the central locking mechanism of the vehicle was activated, leaving the doors jammed. Shinde tried a lot to wriggle out of his car but his attempts went in vain.
Police sources said the villagers swung into action to save Shinde and immediately called the fire brigade.
