The Maharashtra government employee accused of attacking a Marathi-speaking family at Kalyan in Thane district surrendered before police on Friday, a senior officer said.

Akhilesh Shukla (48), an employee of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), his wife Geeta (45) and others have been named in an FIR related to the alleged attack on the family, their neighbour, on December 18 after an argument.

Akhilesh Shukla surrendered before the Khadakpada police, senior inspector Aamarnath Waghmode said.

“We will trace the other accused,” said the police.

Meanwhile, before surrendering, Shukla posted a video on social media in which he claimed his wife was beaten up by family members of the victims.

The police have registered a case against Shukla and his wife Geeta (45) under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 189 (2) (3) and (5) (unlawful assembly) and others.

According to police, the attack took place around 8.45 pm on December 18, and the accused as well as the victims live on the same floor of a building in Kalyan.

As per the FIR, the victim saw Shukla quarrelling with one of their neighbours over lighting of an incense stick. The victim asked Shukla to maintain peace and not to abuse and insult the entire Marathi-speaking community.

The accused couple got angry on hearing this and beat up the victim and his wife with the help of eight to ten others. They attacked the male victim using some sharp weapon, iron rod, pipes and wooden sticks, and inflicted wounds on his arms, legs and face. The accused also molested his wife and threatened the couple, it added.

Thane: A shocking incident has come to light from the upscale Ajmera Heights society in Kalyan’s Yogidham area, where Akhilesh Shukla, an account manager at MTDC, allegedly called goons to attack a family over a minor dispute. The violent confrontation left three individuals injured, with one currently receiving treatment at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital.

Abhijit Deshmukh, a resident of Ajmera Heights society sustained severe injuries in the assault, including multiple wounds requiring 10 to 12 stitches and was rushed to Sion Hospital for treatment. Reports suggested that the attackers also abused and assaulted other residents, including women, who tried to intervene. Videos of the heated altercation have gone viral on the internet.

Details On The Incident

The conflict began when Shukla’s wife, Geeta, performed daily worship rituals outside their house, lighting incense sticks. The smoke from these sticks reportedly drifted into the home of their neighbours, Varsha and Vijay Kalvikatte, causing health issues for their three-year-old child and elderly mother, both of whom suffer from breathing problems, as reported by Pune Pulse. The situation led to frequent arguments between Geeta and Varsha.

During one such argument, nearby residents Abhijit Deshmukh and his brother, Dheeraj, stepped in to mediate and resolve the issue. However, their efforts enraged Shukla, who allegedly retaliated by summoning 10 to 15 men. These men, armed with iron rods, brutally attacked the Deshmukh brothers.

Attackers Called Marathi ‘Beggars’

Vijay Kalvikatte, a resident of the same society, recounted the horrifying ordeal to the media. “I was in my house when I saw Shukla pointing out Abhijit’s room to a group of men. They picked up a bicycle and started banging it against his door. When I went to check, seven to eight men began beating Abhijit with an iron rod. I was also attacked and pushed aside. Women who tried to intervene were beaten too. The attackers hurled abuses at Marathi people, calling them beggars and fish eaters,” he said.

Shukla, reportedly a controversial figure in the society, has been accused of troubling several Marathi residents. In a previous incident, he allegedly assaulted a Marathi family, saying, “You Marathi people are dirty; you smell. You are fish eaters.” His neighbours also alleged that he misused his government job powers and threatened them by showing off his influence at the CMO. Gupta also installed a beacon on his personal car’s dashboard, said his neighbours.

Shukla’s neighbours also alleged that he had his goons stationed outside the police station to stop them from filing an FIR. More details on the matter are awaited.

Akhilesh Shukla suspended

Taking cognisance of the matter, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced in the Maharashtra assembly that Akhilesh Shukla has been suspended from his service and an FIR has been registered against him and other accused. Fadnavis even showed a copy of the FIR filed against Shukla.

“Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind. Mumbai and Maharashtra belonged to Mumbai, it still does and it will,” said Fadnavis amid the applause from the members of the house.

In an apparent reference to unfied Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis said it was important to know who was responsible for Marathi population migrating out of Mumbai after the construction boom in last few decades. Fadnavis did not name anyone.

MNS Demands Legal Action Against Shukla

Ulhas Bhoir, the Kalyan district president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, has warned that legal action should be taken against a man named Shukla, who abused and beat Marathi people in a building in Kalyan, Thane district, over a minor dispute, otherwise, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will take to the streets.

“The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena will straighten out Shukla, who abused a Marathi person in Maharashtra, but the Marathi people should also wake up now and from now on, just as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena stands behind the Marathi people, the Marathi people should also stand behind the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena,” said Bhoir.

Kolkata, Dec 19: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the plea filed earlier in the day, seeking a fresh probe in the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises in August.

In their petition, the victim’s parents have claimed that they are highly unsatisfied with the present course of investigation by the CBI in the matter, a single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh has directed the central agency to submit its point of view on the matter to the court.

The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for December 24 and before that, the CBI will have to submit its response and report to Justice Ghosh’s bench.

According to the parents, since the trial process in the matter has already started and the statements of the witnesses are being recorded, unless the Calcutta High Court intervenes in the matter right now, there might be possibilities of the probe going in the wrong direction.

Since the time a special court in Kolkata last week granted default bail to two individuals accused of tampering with the evidence since the CBI was unable to file a supplementary charge sheet against them within 90 days from the day of their arrest, the victim’s parents, as well as the representatives of the state’s medical fraternity, had been accusing the CBI of gross incompetence in the matter.

The CBI has come under scathing criticism because of its failure to submit the supplementary charge sheet against former and controversial Principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal. Following its failure to submit the charge sheet within the stipulated period, both Ghosh and Mondal were granted default bail in the case by a special court in Kolkata last week.

While Ghosh continues to be behind bars because of the parallel probe by the CBI against him in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, Mondal is already out on bail.

Recently, the victim’s parents have also changed their counsel representing them at the Supreme Court.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, an umbrella of the body of junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement on this issue, has already threatened to resume their protests which they withdrew earlier keeping the larger public interest in mind.