The Navi Mumbai police on Sunday arrested five persons in connection with the assault on senior journalist Sudhir Suryawanshi and his friend Santosh Fatate at Kharghar on Friday.
The five arrested persons — Mayur Krushna Thakur, Jagannath Bhoir, Vishwas Atmaram Kathara, all aged 30 years, Akash Krushna Patil (24) and Akash Krushna Patil (24) – were produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody till April 5.
The five accused have been charged under Sections 326 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and 34 (comment intent) of Indian Penal Code. Suryawanshi, who works with Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper, and his friend Fatate, were attacked with sticks and bats by the assailants when they had gone to Kharghar for some personal work. While Suryawanshi sustained injuries and a fracture on his arms, Fatate sustained some injuries on his body. Both are admitted to the Medicity Hospital at Kharghar.
Before they were assaulted, the attackers had punctured two tyres of Khatate’s car in which the duo had travelled from Panvel to Kharghar. The attackers had covered their face with handkerchiefs. They fled the scene in their motorcycles soon after the attack. “The investigations have revealed that the assault was the result of a dispute that arose among the members of a co-operative housing society in which both Suryawanshi and Fatate live. We are investigating the case further,” Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said.