Nashik, May 25 (PTI) Seven accused in Malegaon Additional Collector Yashwant Sonawane's murder case, were today released on bail by a special court here, the defence counsel said.
The accused were released on bail of Rs 25,000 each by the special court judge M S Jawalkar rejecting CBI's request for their judicial custody for 180 days, defence counsel R J Kasliwal.
The accused are identified as Rajendra Shirsat, Machchindra Suradkar, Sitaram Bhalerao, Tousif Shaikh, Ajay Sonawane, Hakkani Khan and Imran Khan, the counsel added.
Sonawane, the additional collector of Malegaon, was allegedly burnt alive by the oil-mafia near Manmad in Nashik district on January 25 when he tried to dissuade them from adulterating kerosene.
The local police had slapped MCOCA against the accused before the Maharashtra government handed over the probe to the CBI.