A 26-year-old Chembur resident was attacked and brutally thrashed by a group of local 'gangsters' on Friday night.
Two history sheeters involved in the crime
According to the victim, Shiva Gupta, who is a Banjo player by profession, the three main accused Manish Kodalkar alias Gotya, Dhanraj Shetty, and Akib Sheikh – are known to be gangsters in the area who threaten and attack people in the area. Gupta added that some months ago, he provided statements to the police against the aforesaid three accused, after which excluding Sheikh, the other two were arrested by the police and they were behind bars for quite some time.
Kodalkar and Shetty are known criminal history sheeters with a long list of cases registered against them, and convicted for the same as well, said the police, adding that they were externed from the area as well.
Victim left in pool of blood after knife attack, saved by friend
On Friday night, when Gupta was going towards BKC on his bike for personal work, the three accused stopped him along with three other men. They pushed Gupta and his bike to the ground. While Gupta was trying to pull himself back to stand on his feet, one of the three accused pulled out a knife and started stabbing Gupta on his face, neck, shoulder, chest, etc., till he started bleeding.
Despite seeing all the commotion, Gupta said that nobody helped him. Instead, people started running off to their homes, shops pulled their shutters down, and he was left alone with the 'gangsters'. A friend of Gupta, named Sagar More, who was walking on the same lane, noticed the former lying helpless in a pool of blood. More immediately picked up Gupta and took him to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The hospital informed the police about the matter and a case was registered on Saturday against six people on the basis of Gupta’s statement.
Accused are externed from area, go into hiding after committing crimes
“The three accused are externed from the area, and despite that they create all the ruckus and then go back into hiding. We have initiated the technical investigation. One man named Hritik Sanke, 23, who is one among the six accused, has been arrested today (Sunday), while the search for others is on,” said a senior police official at Chunabhatti police station.
Kodalkar has at least seven cases registered against him since 2021 at Chembur, Chunabhatti, and Matunga police stations, while Shetty has five cases against him at Govandi, Chembur police stations for various serious criminal offences, said the police. In this matter, they all have been booked for attempt to murder, voluntarily causing injury charges, and organised crime under the Indian Penal Code and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
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