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By:

Dr. Abhilash Dawre

19 March 2025 at 5:18:41 pm

Kin stage sit-in demanding arrest of main accused

Ulhasnagar: Tension prevailed in the Camp-5 area of Kailash Colony on Friday evening following the brutal double murder of two brothers in a broad daylight firing incident that has triggered outrage among local residents and the victims’ family members. Relatives of the deceased staged a sit-in protest on the main road, refusing to accept the bodies until all the accused are arrested. The bodies of brothers Anil Harkesh Chouhan (22) and Aman Harkesh Chouhan (17) were brought to their...

Kin stage sit-in demanding arrest of main accused

Ulhasnagar: Tension prevailed in the Camp-5 area of Kailash Colony on Friday evening following the brutal double murder of two brothers in a broad daylight firing incident that has triggered outrage among local residents and the victims’ family members. Relatives of the deceased staged a sit-in protest on the main road, refusing to accept the bodies until all the accused are arrested. The bodies of brothers Anil Harkesh Chouhan (22) and Aman Harkesh Chouhan (17) were brought to their residence around 6:30 pm amid heavy police deployment to prevent any untoward incident. A large number of residents, including women, gathered near the house and raised slogans against the police administration, demanding immediate arrest of the main accused and strict punishment for all those involved in the attack. Protesters alleged that timely police action could have prevented the incident. The agitating relatives warned that they would not take custody of the bodies until the prime accused and all absconding suspects are arrested. The protest led to a tense atmosphere in the locality for several hours. Police officials remained at the spot and attempted to pacify the protesters while additional security personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. According to police, the firing incident took place on Thursday evening at Kailash Colony Chowk, where a gang of nearly 10 to 12 persons allegedly opened fire on members of the Chouhan family over an old rivalry. Anil and Aman Chouhan died on the spot, while Arjun Surajbali Chouhan sustained serious injuries and is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital. While speaking to, ‘The Perfect Voice’, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Amarsinh Jadhav said that two accused Shekhar Birajdar and Ajay Rao have been arrested in connection with the case. He added that four police teams have been formed to trace and arrest the remaining accused, and further investigation is underway. The incident has once again raised serious concerns over law and order in Ulhasnagar, with fear and anger spreading among local residents following the deadly attack.

Unrest within Mahayuti

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Mahayuti

Mumbai: The state administration on Sunday stalled the appointments of guardian ministers in Raigad and Nashik districts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had cleared the appointments before he left for Davos in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum on Saturday. They are believed to have been stalled on behest of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the state in absence of the Chief Minister.


NCP’s Aditi Tatkare and BJP’s Girish Mahajan were entrusted with responsibilities of guardian minister for the Raigad and Nashik districts respectively, where Shiv Sena’s Bharat Gogawale and Dada Bhuse had staked claims. Gogawale is a first-time minister while, Bhuse had been the guardian minister of the district during previous government under Eknath Shinde.


Shiv Sena, NCP and BJP all the three constituents of Mahayuti have strong roots in both the districts. However, the Shiv Sena and the NCP had been particularly on loggerheads there. The Shiv Sena, which had been demanding the guardian minister’s post in Nashik district has managed to win only two assembly seats in the district where the NCP has Six and the BJP has Five MLAs. On the contrary, in Raigad the NCP has won only one seat while the Shiv Sena and the BJP both have Three MLAs each in the district.


Sunil Tatkare, MP from Raigad Lok Sabha constituency and the stat unit president of the NCP and father of Aditi Tatkare, had been the guardian minister of Raigad between 2004 and 2014. Gogawale had always been his political opponent before Tatkare joined the Mahayuti government under Ajit Pawar’s leadership in 2023. Gogawale claimed that all the Six Shiv Sena-BJP MLAs in the district had opined in his favour to be the guardian minister of the district and after the decision to appoint Aditi Tatkare was announced, his supporters resorted to violent protests. They burnt tyres in bid to stall traffic on highway in the district. Reacting to the developments, Tatkare said that the issue should be pondered over after CM Fadnavis returns from Davos on Saturday and settled amicably.


In Nashik Girish Mahajan had been the guardian minister of the district between 2014 and 2019 when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister.


The post of guardian minister doesn’t have any constitutional mandate and is considered to be a political appointment. Guardian ministers head the district planning and development councils (DPDC) that control the funds for development works being carried out in the particular district. This control wields much of political power to the minister in that district whereby spreading the party in the district becomes much easier. This is the reason why the grass root politicians seem to be very sensitive to such appointments.


While Gogawale and Bhuse are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian ministers, some others like NCP’s Hasan Mushrif and BJP’s Pankaja Munde are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian district in their home districts of Kolhapur and Beed respectively. DCM Shinde is learnt to have gone to his ancestral village Dare in Satara district after the decision and BJP’s firefighters Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Girish Mahajan are expected to meet him there to try finding a way out of the issue.

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