A court in Maharashtra on Friday remanded Congress MLA Nitesh Rane and 17 of his supporters in police custody till July 9, reported PTI. They were arrested the day before for pouring mud on a civic engineer and tying him to on a bridge near Kankavli in Sindhudurg district.
The incident took place when Rane, who is the legislator from Kankavli, was inspecting potholes on the Mumbai-Goa highway. He was reportedly upset because of the deteriorating condition of the road.
In a video of the incident, the legislator was seen pushing the engineer, identified as Prakash Shede, while his supporters poured buckets of mud over the official’s head. A group of Rane’s supporters, allegedly belonging to the Swabhiman Sanghatna, were then seen tying up Shede by the side of the bridge.
“Throw it [mud] on him,” Nitesh Rane was heard saying in the video. “Throw it on his head. Now you will understand...What should people do, should they die in front of you? What will happen if the wall collapses?”
A first information report was registered against Rane and around 50 of his supporters. Nitesh Rane’s father Narayan Rane, who is a Rajya Sabha MP and former chief minister, has apologised for his son’s conduct, reported PTI.
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