A 45-year-old former secretary of the Mumbai Youth Congress was allegedly murdered by two men who stabbed and slashed him with a sword and a knife in Ghatkopar on early Monday morning. “Two suspects, identified as Umesh Thakur and RJ Sharma, have been detained for questioning,” said deputy commissioner of police (Zone 10) Navinchandra Reddy. “Police are also questioning BJP Yuva Morcha’s district president Sunil Dubey and another BJP worker Jitendra Mishra. There are two more suspects in the case, who are yet to be located.”
Sakinaka police told HT that Manoj Dubey – an active Congress worker whose primary business was broadband services distribution – was found grievously injured at 1.30 am on Monday by his friends below Asalfa Metro station near Maheshwari Mahadev temple. They took him to Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar where he was declared dead on arrival.
Though HT could not independently verify it, an officer at Sakinaka police station said Dubey had got into a heated argument with a woman BJP supporter over a Facebook post. The woman had filed a complaint against Dubey.
In his Facebook post, Dubey had reportedly praised Congress MLA Naseem Khan on his birthday on October 21, to which the woman objected, saying Khan had done no work for his constituents. According to the police, this angered Dubey who allegedly abused her in a Facebook comment (the comment has since been deleted from Dubey’s Facebook account). In response, the BJP supporter lodged a non-cognisable complaint against Dubey at Ghatkopar police station at around 11 pm on Sunday.
After this, according to Sakinaka police officials, Dubey went to a bar with his friends. The two accused followed him there. Dubey allegedly got into an argument with the two men who attacked him with a sword and a knife, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}After this, according to Sakinaka police officials, Dubey went to a bar with his friends. The two accused followed him there. Dubey allegedly got into an argument with the two men who attacked him with a sword and a knife, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Reddy told HT that a murder case has been registered under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. “Our team is on the lookout for the accused,” he said.
Khan, a former minister, led a protest march of 20-odd Congress workers to Sakinaka police station on Monday evening. “This is a political murder by BJP’s youth wing members,” he said. “There are more than five eye-witnesses. They are saying that more than two people are involved. We have requested the police to ensure all culprits are arrested.”
A Sakinaka police officer said, “At the moment, it looks like a case of political rivalry gone wrong, but we don’t know for certain. We will keep an eye on this.”
HT reached out to Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar for his comments, but he had not responded up until the time of going to press.
Law enforcement officials said that Dubey had few criminal cases filed against him, including attempt to murder and grievous assault. Dubey is survived by his parents, younger brother, wife and a minor daughter.
Mumbai Youth Congress’s Twitter handle issued a statement on Monday saying, “We strongly condemn barbaric murder of Mumbai Congress volunteer Manoj Dube who was killed last night for sharing a post on Facebook that Congress will form the government in 2019. We urge Mumbai Police to quickly investigate and put the accused in this horrendous crime behind bars