Police on Sandeep Deshpande attack case says, Accused hoped to get work contract from Shiv Sena (UBT)

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Sandeep Deshpande was attacked in March by an office-bearer of Maharashtra State Mathadi and General Kamgar Sena and his aides hoping that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction would reward them with a work contract, as per the Mumbai Police's chargesheet.

The accused also thought that they would gain sympathy from Shiv Sena (UBT). The chargesheet was submitted in a court by the crime branch last week, an official said on Tuesday. Deshpande sustained injuries after three men attacked him with a cricket stump while he was on a morning walk in the Shivaji Park area of Dadar in central Mumbai on March 3.

Police arrested Ashok Kharat, vice president of the Maharashtra State Mathadi and General Kamgar Sena, and his aides Kisan Solanki, Vikas Chavaria and Mohammed Khan.

Two others involved in the attack are on the run. One of them is a member of the Chhota Rajan gang, the official said, denying involvement of any political leader in the incident apart from the accused named in the chargeshee. While probing the motive behind the attack, crime branch officials found that Kharat and his aides were hoping that the Shiv Sena (UBT) would reward them with a work contract if they attack Deshpande, he said.

Kharat in his statement told the police that at that time the Thackeray faction was being targeted for corruption in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Deshpande was frequently making anti-Thackeray remarks, the official said.