Thane, Dec 21 (PTI) A total of six persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on a Marathi family at Kalyan in the district, police said.
Khadakpada Police on Saturday produced all six including prime accused Akhilesh Shukla and his wife Geeta Shukla before a local court which remanded them in police custody for six days.
The incident, which arose from a dispute between neighbours over burning of incense, took place at Ajmera Society in Kalyan West on December 18.
Akhilesh Shukla (48), an employee with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, and several others allegedly assaulted Dheeraj Deshmukh, his wife, his brother Abhijit Deshmukh, and a woman named Lata Kalvikate. Viral videos of the incident led to an uproar in the Maharashtra legislature, with Opposition leaders claiming that Marathi people were suffering at the hands of `outsiders’.
Akhilesh Shukla, Sumit Jadhav and Ranga alias Darshan Borade were arrested on Friday evening. Geeta Shukla, Parth Jadhav and Vijay Jadhav late Friday night, officials said.
Police have formed four teams to trace four more accused.
Advocate Harish Sarode, the lawyer representing the victims, confirmed that the court granted police a six-day custody of the arrested accused.
“More charges including conspiracy, assault and the use of dangerous weapons are being added to their cases,” Sarode said.
Anil Pandey, the lawyer for the accused, claimed it was not a Marathi people vs outsiders issue.
“This is a simple case of a dispute between neighbors, and there is no regional angle. Unfortunately, some politicians and police have sought to misrepresent it as a Marathi vs non-Marathi issue,” he said.
Transport authorities, meanwhile, seized Akhilesh Shukla’s private car for using an amber beacon, an official said.
“Shukla was fined Rs 9,500 for using an amber light without authority. His vehicle did not have valid insurance or pollution under control (PUC) certification. It had a plate with Maharashtra government written on it as well,” Deputy Regional Transport Officer Ashutosh Barkul said.
The vehicle was seized on Friday.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
