Six held for attack on BJP’s Ulwe unit chief

The attempt to murder was captured on CCTV and helped the police to trace back the movement of the accused and arrest them.

NAVI MUMBAI: More than a week after the attack on BJP’s Ulwe unit chief and Vahal village deputy sarpanch Amar Mhatre, 40, the NRI Coastal police has arrested six accused in connection with the attack though the prime suspect continues to elude the police.

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According to the police, all the six accused were hired by the main accused who is still at large. The incident happened on June 23 at sector 19 B in Ulwe. The incident was caught on CCTV camera in the area. The police procured the footage of the nearby areas and backtracked the movements of the accused and nabbed the six from Koparkhairane.

“The CCTV footage and technical evidence helped in tracing the accused. The main motive behind the assault is yet not clear but it is suspected that business rivalry had led to the attack. Once the main accused is nabbed, we would get clarity on the motive,” senior police inspector Pramod Toradmal from NRI Coastal police station said.

Mhatre, who is also into construction business is still in hospital, recovering from the assault but is out of danger, police sources said. The accused have been identified as Aniket Balasaheb Jadhav (25), Prasad Prabhakar Bhujbal (26), Sagar Tanaji Patil (30), Sahil Anil Dudhane (30), Rishikesh Ranjit Jaibhaye (30) and Amir Ghajanan Mhatre (25). The accused have been arrested under the sections of 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC and are in police custody currently.

On June 23, Amar Mhatre along with his colleagues Vikesh Mhatre and Ashwin Naik had gone to the BJP office in Ulwe Sector-19B to conduct regular party work. At around 8 pm, all the three closed the office and left to go home. Vikesh Mhatre and Ashwin Naik were leaving in the same car while Mhatre was going towards his car when the attack took place.

The accused, who were already present there, started beating Mhatre with iron rods and bamboos. The accused tried to stab Mhatre in the chest with a knife-like weapon in his hand. He ducked to save himself and received head injuries.