Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ganpat Gaikwad was arrested on Saturday for allegedly shooting and injuring a leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena inside a police station in Maharashtra’s Thane district.
According to Additional Commissioner of Police Dattatrya Shinde, BJP Kalyan MLA Ganpat Gaikwad fired at Mahesh Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena chief of Kalyan, within the chamber of the senior inspector of Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar on Friday night.
Besides Ganpat Gaikwad, the police have also arrested two others. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections, including 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), PTI reported.
Who is Ganpat Gaikwad?
• Ganpat Gaikwad is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member representing the Kalyan East constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
• He has emerged victorious in this constituency three times consecutively—first as an independent candidate in 2009 and 2014 and later securing a BJP ticket in 2019.
• His 2019 assembly election affidavit reveals that Ganpat Gaikwad faces 18 pending criminal cases.
In August, HT had reported an altercation between supporters of the Shinde faction and the BJP. Following this, Ganpat issued a challenge to Mahesh for a duel in Kalyan East. Subsequently, BJP supporters, led by Ganpat, arrived at the agreed-upon location. However, the Kolsewadi police intervened, preventing any potential violence and removing Mahesh from the scene.
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‘If my son is being beaten… what will I do’ says Ganpat Gaikwad
“Yes, I shot (him) myself. I have no regrets. If my son is being beaten in front of the police inside the police station, what will I do,” said Ganpat Gaikwad while talking to a news channel. He claimed that he fired five rounds.
The BJP MLA alleged that chief minister Eknath Shinde is “trying to create a kingdom of criminals in Maharashtra”.
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BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena are coalition partners ruling Maharashtra.
“If Eknath Shinde is the chief minister, only criminals will be born in Maharashtra. He has made a good person like me a criminal today,” he said.
Mahesh Gaikwad undergoes surgery
Injured Mahesh Gaikwad was immediately taken to a local hospital and later shifted to a private medical facility in Thane. Gopal Landge, Kalyan in-charge of Sena, later confirmed that he underwent a successful surgery, PTI reported.