India, Oct. 3 -- The Thane police special investigation team (SIT) probing the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Pradeep Purnekar on Friday arrested two accused from Karnala in Raigad district while they were trying to flee to Goa, taking the total number of arrests in the case to three.

While Purnekar's family has alleged that former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde and her husband, Rajendra Shinde, both associated with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, were behind his murder, the Shiv Sena chief has maintained silence on the issue.

On Friday, Shinde's arch rival and state forest minister Ganesh Naik met Purnekar's family and assured them of a proper probe into the incident.

Naik, the BJP's sampark (contact) minister for Thane district, all...