Marathi outsiders' too attacked Deshmukhs

Oppn claim such incidents stem from BJP's arrogance of power; FIR has been lodged, says CM

- Pradip Maitra and Surendra P Gangan

NAGPUR: The assault on a Marathi family in Kalyan by a north Indian Maharashtra government employee, and his alleged derogatory comments against Marathi-speaking people, led to an uproar in both houses of the state legislature on Friday. After the Opposition raised the incident in both houses, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the officer, employed with the state-run Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), would be suspended.

According to the police, Akhilesh Shukla and 8-10 accomplices allegedly attacked his neighbours, Abhijit and Dhiraj Deshmukh, on December 18 after they tried to intervene in his dispute with another neighbour, Lata Kalavikatte, over burning incense sticks in the lobby of their apartment floor. According to the FIR, the Deshmukhs were attacked with a sharp weapon, an iron rod, pipes and wooden sticks.

Shukla was arrested by the police on Friday. His wife Geeta has also been named in the FIR. The matter reached the state legislature on Friday after pictures of the injured Deshmukh brothers went viral, leading to protests in Kalyan on December 19. The legislative council saw a 10-minute adjournment after both the treasury and opposition benches engaged in a heated exchange over the relations between Marathi and non-Marathi people in Mumbai.