2 BJP corporators, 5 others booked for attack on MNS leader

The accused have been identified as BJP corporators Pawan Valekar and Abhijit Karanjule, along with Shubham Shinde, Laxminarayan Chauhan, Bharat Mhetre, Shrikant Reddy and Santosh Shinde

Thane: Two BJP corporators from Ambernath and five others were booked by Shivaji Nagar police on Sunday, for allegedly attacking a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader with an iron rod during a dispute over a shop in Shivaji Nagar, days after the incident triggered a political tussle between the two parties.

2 BJP corporators, 5 others booked for attack on MNS leader

The accused have been identified as BJP corporators Pawan Valekar and Abhijit Karanjule, along with Shubham Shinde, Laxminarayan Chauhan, Bharat Mhetre, Shrikant Reddy and Santosh Shinde.

The development came after the Shivaji Nagar police had earlier arrested MNS Ambernath president Shailesh Shirke and his supporters in connection with the same incident. The MNS subsequently alleged that police action was one-sided, claiming Shirke and his supporters had also been injured in the clash but no BJP leaders or workers had been booked.

MNS Thane president Avinash Jadhav had repeatedly demanded that the BJP leaders be booked. He visited the police station and announced a protest on Sunday if action was not taken against the BJP corporators and other leaders. The protest was called off after police registered the case.

According to Suhas Ghag, the complainant and a relative of Shirke, a dispute over possession of a shop in Shivaji Nagar broke out between Chauhan and Shirke around 1am on Wednesday and subsequently turned violent.

Ghag, who said he had gone to intervene and resolve the dispute, alleged that Valekar, Karanjule and the five other accused attacked him with an iron rod. He suffered serious injuries to his hand, he said. The group also allegedly damaged his car.

A police official from the Shivaji Nagar police station said a case had been registered against the seven accused under Sections 118(1), 115(2), 189(2), 190, 191(2) and 324(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.