Independant candidate involved in poll-day assault in Airoli held

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai police have arrested the independent candidate, who had assaulted the son of a former BJP corporator on the polling day of assembly elections on November 20.
The Koparkhairane police arrested Ankush Kadam and one of his party workers, Sagar Pawge, and are on the lookout for Kadam’s driver Vishal, Amit Bhoite, Prashant Misal, Sanket, and a few others.
On November 20, the candidate along with a mob of party workers associated with Maharashtra Swarajya Party assembled at the booth set up by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to assist voters from Airoli constituency.
Also present at the booth was Rohit Shankar More, elder son of BJP corporator Shankar More, who is also the complainant in the matter. The mob initially engaged in a verbal spat with More, but the matter quickly escalated into a fist fight. Jayesh More, second son of the former corporator suffered extensive injuries after being repeatedly assaulted by the mob. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of a local hospital and is stated to have suffered multiple fractures.
“My younger son had come to the booth with lunch when the independent candidate recognised him and assaulted him. The candidate’s intention was to create fear in the minds of voters, and he succeeded, as after the assault, the number of voters dwindled,” said Shankar More, father of the injured.
He alleged that the candidate and his party workers were involved in similar incidents in Ghansoli village. “This is the first time that an independent candidate is vying for the post of MLA by means of violence and terror,” More added.
The police said that they are going through the CCTV footage to ascertain the role of each person involved in the attack on the son of the BJP leader.