Pune: A group of unidentified persons attacked his car at a signal in Katraj area here on Tuesday evening, rebel Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra minister Uday Samant claimed. Samant, one of the 40 Sena MLAs who support Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, was here to attend Shinde's programs in the district, a source close to him said.
Shinde's convoy had passed along the same route some time before the attack, Samant said. A windowpane of the car in which Samant was travelling was damaged in the incident, one of his aides said. A video of a mob trying to surround Samant's vehicle and shouting slogans circulated on social media.
Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray's public meeting was held in the vicinity around the same time. Samant told a Marathi news channel that when his convoy halted at a signal, two vehicles pulled alongside and several people who were wielding rods and baseball bats attacked his car.
"My car was stopped at the signal at Katraj. At that time a car stopped beside my car and two people got out of it. One of them carried a baseball bat while the other had a stone. They started abusing me. Others came from the other side who had sticks. They climbed on the top of the car and tried to attack me," Samant described the incident.
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"They attacked my car in a pre-mediated manner. They probably wanted to follow my and CM's convoys. When the incident took place, the CM's convoy had gone ahead. I suspect somebody must have done a recce of the CM's route," Samant added. Shinde's supporters will not be cowed down by such incidents, he said.
"We will not back down. In fact, we will be with the chief minister even more firmly. (Uddhav Thackeray and leaders loyal to him) should stop using words like traitors and backstabbers," the former minister added.
Asked about the incident at a program in the city, Chief Minister Shinde said throwing stones at a car and running away is not an act of courage. "Police will take action against those who did this," he said.
Meanwhile, police have arrested Shiv Sena's Pune city unit president and four others in connection with the incident, an official said on Wednesday. "Shiv Sena's city unit president Sanjay More is among the five persons arrested in connection with the attack on Samant's car," assistant commissioner of police (Swargate division), Sushama Chavan, said.
"We have registered an offence against more than 15 people under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder ), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and sections related to rioting," she added.
