Shots fired at BJP candidate’s office in Ambernath

Police said the incident, captured on CCTV camera, took place at 12:15 am, when two bike-borne men fired bullets at Pawan Walekar’s office

THANE: Three days before the Ambernath Municipal Council elections, two unidentified assailants fired four bullets at the office of a BJP candidate minutes after midnight on Tuesday. The attack, probably aimed at intimidating Pawan Walekar (BJP), who is contesting the December 20 polls, came only hours before chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s scheduled election rally in Ambernath on Wednesday.

Three days before the Ambernath Municipal Council elections, two unidentified assailants fired four bullets at the office of a BJP candidate minutes after midnight on Tuesday. ( Photo By Pramod Tambe).

Police said the incident, captured on CCTV camera, took place at 12:15 am, when two bike-borne men fired bullets at Walekar’s office. CCTV footage suggests the men were in their mid-30s. They dressed in white and were wearing helmets.

The bike stopped outside Walekar’s office in Navin Bhendi Pada. The pillion rider, carrying a firearm, alighted and fired four rounds at the office, shattering its glass door. At the time, Pawan Walekar and three employees were inside the office.

Walekar and those with him rushed out but the attackers fled. No one was injured in the firing but an employee suffered minor cuts caused by shards of glass.

Sachin Gore, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 4, said, “Four teams, including a crime branch team, have been formed to investigate the attack. We are probing the attack from all possible angles, including the political angle,” Gore said.

Security has been strengthened across the city. Around 1,200 personnel from the Thane police have been dispatched to Ambernath, in addition to Central Reserve Police Force personnel and Home Guards, to provide security for the chief minister’s rally in the township.

A delegation of BJP leaders from Ambernath and Badlapur staged a protest outside the police station, alleging that despite sharing the names of the attackers, the police have not registered a complaint.

Walekar and his family have a legacy of active politics in Ambernath. His uncle, Arvind Walekar, has been a Shiv Sena loyalist for several years and is currently Sena city chief. Arvind’s wife, Manisha (Shiv Sena), a three-time corporator and former municipal council president, is contesting the post of council president in the December 20 election.

Ambernath has witnessed intense political churn in the weeks ahead of the civic elections, with leaders and workers from the Shiv Sena (UBT), Shiv Sena and BJP switching loyalties.

On Sunday, local Sena leader Sameer Mhatre, and Sonia Mhatre, who headed the party’s women’s wing in Ambernath, and who were associated with the Sena for over a decade, joined the BJP along with hundreds of supporters, heightening political tensions in the region.

Fadnavis, who was in Ambernath to campaign for CA Tejaswini Karanjule, the BJP’s candidate for the post of council president, did not comment on the firing incident during his rally. However, he cleverly leveraged the shooting by urging citizens to support the BJP to ensure a “crime-free, nuisance-free and transparent system of governance” in Ambernath.