Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 | Last Update : 04:38 PM IST
Maha Congress MLA throws mud on engineer, arrested
Rane’s 16 supporters were also arrested over the incident that was caught on camera and went viral on social media.
Mumbai: Congress MLA Nitesh Rane, son of former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, was arrested on Thursday hours after he heckled a government engineer and threw mud on him while protesting against potholes on a bridge near Kankavli in Sindhudurg district. The incident comes days after a BJP legislator assaulted a civic official with a cricket bat in Madhya Pradesh, sparking public outrage.
Mr Rane’s 16 supporters were also arrested over the incident that was caught on camera and went viral on social media.
The Kankavli legislator and his supporters dumped buckets of mud on Public Works Department (PWD) engineer Prakash Shedekar on a bridge near the Mumbai-Goa highway in morning when they were inspecting the pothole-ridden highway. The
engineer was later tied to the bridge over the river.
“Every day the locals have to face such mud from the passing vehicles... You also experience it,” Mr Rane, 37, was heard saying to Mr Shedekar
After the video went viral on social media, Mr Rane was trolled from all quarters. Police later registered an FIR against the MLA and his supporters. The legislator
was arrested along with others after they turned themselves in at the Kudal police station.
As the incident evoked tremendous flak and criticism, the MLA’s father Narayan Rane offered an apology. “This behaviour is wrong. The protest over the highway issue is correct but the way he agitated was completely wrong. I don’t support this,” said the former chief minister.
This is not the first time the MLA has sparked a controversy. In 2017, he threw a fish at a senior government official during a meeting.
The incident in Maharashtra comes close on the heels of an attack by BJP lawmaker Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of senior party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, on a civic official in Indore on June 26. The MP legislator, who was later arrested and spent four days in jail before getting bail, attacked the official with a cricket bat over the demolition of a dilapidated building.
