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Sharad Pawar's party men protest outside Mumbai Police station after clashes in Maharashtra assembly
NCP-SP leader Jitendra Awhad blocked police vehicle, demanding Nitin Deshmukh’s release, alleging biases on the part of law enforcement officials.
Supporters of the Nationalist Congress Party–Sharadchandra Pawar (NCP-SP) staged a protest outside Mumbai’s Marine Drive Police Station early Friday morning, following a clash on Thursday. The scuffle broke out outside the Maharashtra assembly between supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Gopichand Padalkar and NCP-SP leader Jitendra Awhad.
Among the protesters were NCP-SCP MLA Rohit Pawar and Jitendra Awhad, demanding the release of activist Nitin Deshmukh, who was taken to the police station, news agency ANI reported.
Awhad, known for being vocal in the assembly, launched a sit-in protest near the rear gate of the Vidhan Bhavan premises around 2am after police began taking away his supporter Nitin Deshmukh. The MLA blocked the police vehicle, demanding Deshmukh’s release, alleging biases on the part of law enforcement officials.
“This is nothing but blatant bias. My supporter, who was beaten, is being arrested while Padalkar’s five men who assaulted him are being protected by the police,” ANI quoted Awhad as saying.
Awhad alleged that a person facing multiple charges tried to attack him, and MLA Nitin Deshmukh intervened to stop the scuffle, which then escalated into an altercation.
The Speaker said Deshmukh would be released once the session ends and that action would be taken against the four accused. However, only one has been arrested so far. “What example is the government trying to set with such incidents in the assembly?” Awhad asked.
Awhad further alleged that they are being framed. The Speaker told them that Deshmuskh would be released and they trusted him blindly. “Later, we got to know that Nitin Deshmukh is being taken to the police station. When we tried to stop the police, our karykartas were beaten.”
A video of the scuffle went viral on social media on Thursday, showing members of both groups engaging in a heated altercation.
Following the incident, Jitendra Awhad alleged that he was abused and received a death threat by individuals he described as "goons" who confronted him outside the assembly.
(With inputs from agencies)
