Congress MLA Nitesh Rane arrested for throwing mud on engineer
MUMBAI : Maharashtra Police on Thursday Congress MLA Nitesh Rane arrested for throwing mud on highway engineer and tying him to a bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway in Kankavali town of Sindhuburg district. The FIR against Rane and some of his supporters was filed under sec 353, 342, 332, 324, 323, 120(A), 147, 143, 504, 506.
Irked over the poor condition of the Mumbai-Goa highway, Congress legislator Nitesh Rane and his supporters vented their ire on a road sub-engineer by bathing him with wet mud and slime, and even attempted to tie him to a bridge here on Thursday.
Dikshit Gedam, SP, Sindhudurg told News Agency ANI that Rane and two of his supporters have been arrested and search for other accused is on. They will be produced in court on Friday. Rane was arrested after he surrendered before Kankavali police.
Earlier on Thursday, Rane arrived at Kankavali section of the highway to conduct an inspection of the work done by the government authorities. He also called the Public Works Department (PWD) engineer Prakash Khadekar to the spot and reprimanded him over the situation of the highway.
Nitesh Rane, the son of veteran politician and former chief minister Narayan Rane, had gone with supporters to “inspect” road repairs on a stretch of the Mumbai-Goa highway when he targeted an engineer, Prakash Shedekar, over the poor condition of the road.
He lashed out at the official, alleging that people had to suffer muddy and potholed roads routinely because of his incompetence.
“People are suffering it daily… Now, you also experience it,” the lawmaker and his lackeys reportedly said, tipping buckets full of slime on Mr Shedekar, manhandling him and even tying him up. “Now do you get it,” Nitesh Rane says, questioning the mud-covered official aggressively. “Who has given you the right to sink this area under slime?”
The section of the highway, stretching between two bridges, was ridden with potholes which were not being filled up. This was causing trouble to the commuters as several accidents were reported in the area due to puddles filled with rainwater.
Rane, however, later justified his action and said that now he will oversee the repair work on the highway with a stick in his hand, He said that he will reach the highway everyday at 7 AM and ensure that the government officers are working properly.
“Now I will myself oversee the repair work on this highway, with a stick in my hand. Everyday at 7 am I will reach here. Let me see how does the Govt system win against us. We have the medicine to tackle their arrogance,” he told ANI.
Rane was caught on camera attacking a government official with mud and slime on a highway near Mumbai on Thursday in an egregious display of political arrogance. Pummeled on social media, Nitesh Rane later drove to a police station and turned himself in.
At one point, the Congress lawmaker and his men are seen trying to tie Mr Shedekar to the railing of the half-built bridge on which the incident took place, apparently to “teach him a lesson”. Videos of the incident have drawn disgust and condemnation on social media.
(With Inputs from Mumbai Bureau ).
