Mumbai:
Two politicians from Maharashtra are likely to be arrested for allegedly beating a policeman inside the premises of the state Assembly, sources have told NDTV.
The MLAs - Kshitij Thakur from the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi and Ram Kadam from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena-were among a group of nearly 10 legislators who allegedly slapped and punched Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Suryavanshi yesterday. They have been named in the police complaint filed by the cop.
A day before he was thrashed, the policeman had stopped the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi leader for speeding on the Bandra-Worli sealink in Mumbai.
Sources say the arrest of the two MLAs is imminent as the attack on the cop seems unprovoked. The police, they say, have the authority to arrest MLAs in such cases of criminal offence even if they take place inside the Assembly. Per procedure, they have to inform the chairperson of the Assembly, even if it is after the arrest.
The legislators reportedly got enraged after Mr Thakur accused the policeman of breach of privilege and alleged that he had also abused him when he stopped him on the Bandra-Worli sealink on Monday.
While members cutting across party lines demanded that the cop be suspended, some of them rushed to the visitor's gallery where he was sitting and thrashed him. The police officer was rushed to a hospital on a stretcher. He had been summoned to the Assembly to explain his action.