Mumbai, Feb 3 (UNI) A Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from neighbouring Kalyan city was arrested for allegedly shooting and injuring a leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena group and his assistant over a land dispute, a police official said on Saturday.
Talking to media persons, Additional Commissioner of Police Dattatrya Shinde said that the MLA Ganpat Gaikwad opened fire on Mahesh Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena chief of Kalyan, inside the chamber of the senior inspector of Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar area on Friday night.
In the firing, Shiv Sena leader Mahesh Gaikwad and his assistant Kunal Patil were injured.
Soon after the incident, MLA Gaikwad was arrested and presently he is kept in Kalwa police station lock up.
He will be produced in the court in the evening through video conference, police said.
Talking to media persons over phone before his arrest, Ganpat Gaikwad said that he used the firearm as his son was being beaten at the police station.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is trying to establish a “kingdom of criminals” in Maharashtra, he alleged. Mahesh Gaikwad was taken to a local hospital before being shifted to a private medical facility in Thane city. “He underwent surgery, which was successful,” said Gopal Landge, Kalyan in-charge of Sena.
According to Additional CP Shinde, Ganpat Gaikwad’s son had come to the police station to lodge a complaint in connection with a land dispute when Mahesh Gaikwad arrived with his men. Later, Ganpat Gaikwad also reached the police station. During an altercation between the MLA and the Sena leader, Ganpat Gaikwad allegedly fired shots at Mahesh Gaikwad inside the senior inspector’s chamber, injuring him and his associate, the official said.
