In a shocker, a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA was nabbed on Saturday for allegedly shooting several bullets at a ruling Shiv Sena leader inside a police station, late Friday night, officials said.
The shooting incident took place inside the office of Anil Jagtap, the Senior Police Inspector of Hill Lines Police Station in Ulhasnagar town, late on Friday, ironically, in the home district of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Ruling BJP's Kalyan East MLA Ganpat Kalu Gaikwad and Shiv Sena city President Mahesh Gaekwad were sitting there to resolve a purported land dispute.
Suddenly, Ganpat Gaikwad whipped out his revolver and indiscriminately fired several rounds at Mahesh Gaekwad, seriously wounding him and leading to a chaos inside and outside the police station, though no police personnel were hurt.
A seriously injured and bleeding Mahesh Gaekwad was rushed to the Jupiter Hospital in Thane town for treatment while Ganpat Gaikwad and three other associates who were detained have been placed under arrest here this morning.
The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) raised a stink over the shootout inside a police station and demanded the resignation of BJP's Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Congress' Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule slammed the ruling 'Mahayuti' regime for the lawlessness act that occurred inside a police station head's chamber.
As the MVA demanded his scalp, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said he would speak with Fadnavis, who in turn, acted swiftly and ordered a probe into the shootout this morning (February 3).
The accused legislator, Ganpat Gaikwad has claimed that he and his family were facing issues from CM Shinde and his MP son Dr. Shrikant E. Shinde.
He also contended that he was compelled to shoot because of CM Shinde and he committed the act out of self-defence.
In a social message attributed to Ganpat Gaikwad, he is reportedly saying that if Shinde continues as the CM, only criminals will be born in Maharashtra, though there was no authentication that the MLA made the alleged statements.
(With inputs from IANS)
