Osmanabad Sena MP stabbed during campaign meet

Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad in central Maharashtra Omraje Nimbalkar was stabbed by a youth during a campaign meeting in Padoli village in Kalamb tehsil on Wednesday

Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad in central Maharashtra Omraje Nimbalkar was stabbed by a youth during a campaign meeting in Padoli village in Kalamb tehsil on Wednesday morning. The MP sustained minor injuries to his left forearm and was treated at a sub-district hospital.

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Nimbalkar, who defeated his cousin and then NCP leader Rana Jagjitsinh Patil in the Lok Sabha elections early this year, was holding campaign meetings in villages of Kalamb tehsil for party candidate Kailash Patil. After completing his corner meeting in Naigaon, he was heading to nearby Padoli village for another meeting when a group of youths approached him. The accused, on the pretext of shaking hand with the MP, moved closer to him and tried to stab him. Alerted by his suspicious movement, Nimbalkar moved away from him, who was then attacked on his forearm with a small knife. The knife hit the wristwatch on Nimbalkar’s left hand. The accused, however, managed to flee.

An FIR has been registered in Shiradhon police station. “We have formed four teams and dispatched them to Pune, Kaij and other tehsil places. The accused will soon be nabbed,” said a senior officer from Shiradhon Police station. Shiv Sena’s district unit had given a bandh call in Kalamb tehsil on Wednesday.

Nimbalkar has appealed to his supporters to maintain peace. “I am safe and sound. All Shiv Sena and BJP workers are urged to not believe rumours and maintain peace. Police are investigating the case,” he said in a statement.

There were speculations that the youth was a Sena worker and the attack would have happened because of internal dispute within Shiv Sena over selecting candidates. Nimbalkar, however, denied this. There is a history of rivalry between the families of Nimbalkar and Rana Jagjitsinh Patil. Rana’s father and former NCP minister Padmasinh Patil was the main accused in the murder of Omraje’s father Pawanraje Nimbalkar, who was shot dead in his car in Navi Mumbai in June 2006.