Navi Mumbai: Man Held For Opening Fire At Panvel

Panvel police have arrested a local politician, who was accompanying Mahesh Gaikwad and was injured when BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad fired at the former last month, has been arrested after a video of a man firing a round in the air, went viral. The arrested has been identified as Rahul Patil.

Details of case

According to police, the firing incident took place on March 12 after a bullock cart race was held at Dungi village near Panvel. The team which lost the race, in anger, created a ruckus and one of them fired the gun. While the Panvel city police registered a case against 15 people in connection with the incident, they were in search of other accused, along with the man who fired the round.

As per the complaint filed by Abhaysingh Patil, a constable attached with the Panvel police station, Rahul Patil and his rival Jayesh Patil’s bullock carts were in the race which was won by the latter. While the followers of Jayesh Patil were celebrating the victory, angry Rahul Patil allegedly got some followers together and pelted stones and tried to assault the winning team’s followers.

“Rahul Patil also fired a round in air the video of which was captured by someone present at the spot and it went viral. A case has been registered on the basis of the video and we are investigating further to see if Rahul Patil has any criminal record. If he possesses the license to carry the gun, then it will be cancelled immediately,” a senior police official from Panvel city police station said not wishing to be named. A case under relevant sections of IPC and Arms Act has been registered and further investigations are on.