PUNE: A 23-year-old man was attacked with swords and other sharp weapons by a group of around 15 men on the night of August 4 at Karjat town, about 145km from Pune, allegedly over a post he shared on BJP's suspended spokesperson Nupur Sharma's comments.
Ahmednagar district police have arrested five men and a minor for the attack on Pratik, aka Sunny Pawar, who is said to be wounded but stable.
The arrested suspects are Sohail Shaukat Pathan, Arbaaz Qasam Pathan, Junaid Javed Pathan, Hussain Qasam Shaikh and Arbaaz Shaikh. The minor was detained on the charge of participating in the attack. A four-wheeler was impounded too.
Police are verifying a statement from Pawar's friend, Amit Mane, who was with him at the time of the attack and later lodged the complaint alleging that the assailants kept referring to the man's social media post regarding Sharma's comments.
IGP (Nashik Range) BG Shekhar said: "Our preliminary investigation suggests Pawar had previous enmity with some of the assailants. Our probe will find out whether the assault had anything to do with that."
Ahmednagar SP Manoj Patil said Pawar will be discharged from hospital in a day or two. "The situation in Karjat is peaceful," he said.
According to Patil, Mane has stated in the FIR that Pawar was attacked for sharing posts on Sharma, which had infuriated the group.
Police first picked up Sohail and Arbaaz from the Lohar galli in Karjat and produced them before a magisterial court, which ordered their custodial remand till August 10. The duo's interrogation led police to the arrest of three more suspects and the detention of a minor, inspector Chandrashekhar Yadav of Karjat police said.
Junaid and the minor were taken in custody from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune district, while Hussain and Arbaaz were arrested from Chinchwad, the officer said. The arrests were carried out in a coordinated operation.
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