Padamsinh Patil, accused in the Pawanraje Nimbalkar murder case and who is currently out on bail, said the social activist Anna Hazare has taken 'supari' (contract) to defame him.
"Anna Hazare seems to have taken a supari to defame me for no reason," Patil, who visited his hometown for the first time after being released on bail, told reporters.
The Bombay High Court on October 1 granted anticipatory bail to the suspended NCP leader in connection with a complaint filed against him by Hazare alleging that the leader had conspired to murder him.
Earlier, Patil, who was arrested by the CBI in June this year for allegedly hiring contract killers to murder Congress leader Nimbalkar, who was shot dead on Pune-Mumbai Expresswayin 2006, was released on bail on September 25.
Meanwhile, Hazare is on hunger strike in Ralegaon Siddhi seeking action against Patil for allegedly plotting to kill him.
Patil's son and a state minister, Ran Jagjit Singh Patil, said all the allegations levelled by Anna Hazare against his father are baseless.
"I have personally handed over the documents of Terna sugar factory to Hazare but instead of studying them he is acting in a biased manner," he said.
Patil, an MP from Osmanabad, also said he wanted to campaign for his party in the assembly elections. However, he has been suspended from NCP following his arrest in the murder case.
