Sena leader shot at during temple visit; gangster’s role suspected

A Shiv Sena leader was shot at inside a temple premises in Vikhroli’s Tagore Nagar on Thursday morning. The victim, Chandrashekhar Keshav Jadhav, 55, the deputy

A Shiv Sena leader was shot at inside a temple premises in Vikhroli’s Tagore Nagar on Thursday morning. The victim, Chandrashekhar Keshav Jadhav, 55, the deputy vibhag pramukh of Vikhroli, was injured in the incident but is currently stable. The assailant, who was caught on the spot, said he was hired to kill Jadhav, police said.

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The police said Jadhav was making his daily visit to the Sai Baba temple around 7.10am along with his son Darshan and another colleague when the attack occurred. Jadhav, who is a trustee of the temple, was seated in the temple office when the assailant, identified as Abhay Vikram Singh, 22, opened fire on him. The bullet hit Jadhav in his right arm, after which a brawl ensued and Singh was nabbed.

“I was offering prayers when the man shot at my father while he was in the office. We all ran and pinned the assailant to the ground,” Darshan told HT. “He also shot at me but missed. We blocked his hand but he pulled the trigger and fired a few rounds,” Darshan said.

Police stated that Singh is a native of Uttar Pradesh (UP). “The firearm recovered is a sophisticated weapon,” said Akhileshkumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police, zone 7.

Police stated that the assailant fired five to six rounds.

The police suspect there was one more person involved, who dropped Singh off on a motorbike. “Singh claimed he was contacted online while in UP and offered money for the job,” said an officer.

The case has now been transferred to the anti-extortion cell. “Singh named gangster Prasad Pujari in his statement, claiming that the person who brought him to Vikhroli and gave instructions to fire at Jadhav, had said the ‘work’ came from Prasad Pujari,” said Santosh Rastogi, joint commissioner of police , Mumbai crime branch.