MUMBAI: Kalyan police on Friday arrested Akhilesh Shukla, an MTDC officer, and two associates for assault and use of derogatory language against a next-door Marathi couple.
Shukla later issued a statement rebutting allegations by his neighbours, the Deshmukhs, saying it was a personal dispute and that he had made no remarks against Marathis in general.
Shukla surrendered to Khadakpada police. His associates, Darshan Borade and Sumit Jadhav, were arrested earlier. Shukla is alleged to have beaten up Dheeraj Deshmukh, and his brother Abhijit, who were his neighbours in Ajmera Heights in Kalyan.
The fight broke out when Shukla’s wife lit incense in the common corridor and her neighbours objected. The Deshmukhs alleged that the Shukla family made comments about Marathi people for their non-vegetarian dietary habits.
Dheeraj Deshmukh told TOI, “When I objected to Shukla and his wife’s remarks, they got angry. After the argument, we came back to the house.” He said after a while 8-10 people from outside the society knocked on his door, called him out, and began hitting him, during which his brother Abhijit too suffered head injuries. He said Shukla took out a revolver from his pocket.
He alleged that Shukla and his family have intimidated other residents in the building in the past, saying he worked at Mantralaya with govt. Deshmukh also accused Shukla of using an official blue beacon on his car.
He said when he first went to the local police station to register a complaint, police were reluctant to record it, which forced him to take to social media.
Police have also registered a cross-complaint against the Deshmukhs, in which Deshmukh has been accused of assault. Meanwhile, after news about a Marathi family being attacked went viral, MNS and Shiv Sena workers raised the issue and demanded action against the Shuklas.
On Thursday, party leaders met DCP Atul Zende and demanded action against the accused and against police officials who delayed registering Deshmukh’s complaint.
Following this, police formed a team under ACP Kalyanji Ghete. DCP Atul Zende said they are probing if Shukla had eligibility to use the beacon on his vehicle. Police have seized CCTV footage of the incident from the building.
