Maharashtra: NCP leader kidnapped, brutally assaulted in Nanded; blames colleagues

Patil alleged that he was taken to an undisclosed location, thrashed, and later dropped near a village

A shocking incident of kidnapping and assault involving a member of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has come to the spotlight. The incident, reported from Nanded on Monday, has sparked serious concerns about political rivalry, the state of law and order, and internal factionalism within parties.

Jeevan Ghogre Patil, former leader of opposition in the Nanded Municipal Corporation, was travelling in his Toyota Innova when a Mahindra Scorpio, coming from the opposite side blocked his vehicle, NDTV reported citing CCTV footage of the incident.

Three men waiting by the roadside for Patil rushed toward his car, forcibly dragged him into a Scorpio, and drove off. Patil alleged that he was taken to an undisclosed location, thrashed, and later dropped near a village, according to the NDTV report.

He then lodged a complaint, accusing party colleagues Prataprao Govindrao Chikhalikar and Mohanrao Marotrao Hambarde of orchestrating the attack.

According to Patil, the kidnappers issued threats, telling him not to interfere with “future minister Chikhlikar,” and warned that he could end up like Santosh Deshmukh, a village head from Beed who was kidnapped and murdered last year.

A case has been filed against Nanded MLA Pratap Patil Chikhlikar and former MLA Mohanrao Marotrao Hambarde on charges of provoking and instigating violence.

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the case -- including Shubham Datta Sunewad, Rahul Maroti Dasarwad, Kaustubh Ramesh Ranveer, Vivek Narhari Suryavanshi, Madhav Balaji Waghmare, Mohammad Afroz Fakir, and Devanand Bhole. Three of them reportedly have criminal records.

Meanwhile, Ghogre, who sustained serious head injuries and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital, appealed to Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde to end “goonda raj” (rule of goons) in Nanded.

His supporters have announced a bandh in Nanded on Tuesday.