Kandivli Man injured in brawl over ganesh Aarti

An argument over the Ganesh aarti being performed in a Kandvli building ended in a brawl, with one person being hospitalised.

An argument over the Ganesh aarti being performed in a Kandvli building ended in a brawl, with one person being hospitalised.

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According to locals, Raju Rajput and the Chavan brothers — Pradeep, 32, Sachin, 27, and Nitin — all residents of Ganesh Kripa Housing Society at Akurli Road in Kandivli (East), would perform the aarti in the building compound every Tuesday. However, another resident, Manish Yadav, 21, and his friends were unhappy with the system as they would get disturbed. Yadav works as a driver for a call center.

On Tuesday, Rajput went to Chavans’ house on the fifth floor to confirm the time of the aarti. At that time, Yadav, his four friends — Sunny Naikar, 18, Srikant Achria, 21, Rahul C, 28, Sanjay C, 26, — and 15 other men barged into the house.

“The came inside and started to push us around,” said Pradeep. “They broke our television and furniture. When Raju and I tried to intervene, Srikant picked up an iron rod and hit Raju on the head. They threatened us and left.”

The brothers took Raju to Bhagwati Hospital where he was given 15 stitches and has been kept under observation. Pradeep then approached the Samta Nagar police and registered a case against the group However, the police have a different story to tell.

According to them, the fight was triggered as Rajput and the Chavan brothers had objected to the five suspects playing carom in the lobby.

They allegedly had a verbal spat, which resulted in Tuesday’s brawl.

“We have arrested the four persons. It was just a minor fight. All suspects have been booked under section 324 (assault) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC,” said Anant Kenjali, senior inspector, Samta Nagar police station.