A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Mohit Kamboj, alleged on Friday, 22 April, that he was attacked and called it an attempt to kill him by the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The leader shared visuals showing dents on the door of his Land Rover SUV and the rear door handle broken.
Kamboj claimed that his car was stopped near the Kalanagar junction in Mumbai and a mob of around 200 people attacked his car.
"I had gone to attend a wedding and while returning home, my vehicle stopped at a road signal in Kalanagar area. Suddenly, a mob of few hundreds attacked my vehicle and broke its glasses and damaged the door handles," Kamboj said in a video statement on Twitter.
He had earlier also accused the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders of having links with 'drug mafias', NDTV reported.
"I was asked to move my vehicle by local police and no one in the car was injured. I am not going to be afraid of this kind of aggression because my party and I are exposing corruption in the BMC (civic body ruled by the Shiv Sena)."Mohit Kamboj, BJP Leader
Videos of the incident have also circulated on Twitter showing the BJP leader’s car being stopped on the side of the road by a traffic policeman.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar told ANI that President's rule should be imposed in Maharashtra.
"We will meet Mumbai Police Commissioner and sought for meeting with Home minister regarding attacks on BJP's Pol Khol Campaign and Mohit Kamboj. We don't demand President's rule but law and order situation is as such that there should be President rule," he said.
The incident took place near the private home of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Since Saturday morning, Shiv Sena workers have gathered outside the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Independent Amravati Lok Sabha MP Navneet Rana along with her husband MLA Ravi Rana had planned to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside his residence.
Leader of opposition in Assembly Devendra Fadnavis and his counterpart in Council Pravin Darekar have condemned the incident.
"If you talk about government corruption in Maharashtra, 'I will kill you', this is the message. However, the fight against corruption against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government won't stop," he said in a tweet.
“There seems to be a trend of carrying out attacks on people who speak against the government,” said Fadnavis.
Senior BJP leader Sunil Deodhar said that the attack proves that Shiv Sena is frightened. “Maharashtra is moving towards jungle raj,” he said.
In February, after the ED arrested Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, the Mumbai Police registered an FIR against BJP leader Mohit Kamboj. The police said that Kamboj had brandished a sword in public and also violated COVID-19 norms.
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