Maharashtra politician who shot leopard dead joins Congress

A Solapur-based politician Dhavalsinh Mohite-Patil - who recently shot a man-eating leopard on the prowl, joined Congress on Thursday.

The leopard was found moving in Solapur, Ahmednagar, Beed, Aurangabad and Pune districts.

The forest department hired the services of trained shooters Harshwardhan Tavare and Dhavalsinh

His grandfather, Shankarrao Mohite-Patil, played a leading role in the state's cooperative movement.

His father Pratapsinh Mohite-Patil was a minister in the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government, while his uncle Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil had been a minister in the Congress-NCP Democratic Front government and also served as deputy chief minister.

Vijaysinh's son and Dhavalsinh's cousin Ranjitsinh is a former NCP MP and now a BJP MLC.

He was welcomed into Congress by state president and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat.