A senior journalist and his friend were injured when they were attacked by “four to five” unidentified assailants at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
Sudhir Suryawanshi, who works with Daily News & Analysis (DNA) newspaper, and his friend Santosh Khatate, were attacked with sticks and bats by the assailants when they had gone to Khargar for some personal work.
While Suryawanshi sustained injuries and a fracture on his arms, Khatate sustained some injuries on his body. Both have been admitted to the Medicity Hospital at Kharghar.
Before Suryawanshi and his friend 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 motive behind the attack was not immediately known. The police suspect that the attack might have been something to do with the recent elections to the co-operative housing society, in which both Suryawamshi and Khatate live.
In a statement issued after visiting the journalist and his friend, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said: “I spoke to Injured Sudhir and Santosh at the Medicity Hospital. Both stay in same housing society in Panvel. Both have no clue about the assailants. They could not see the faces of the assailants as they had covered their face with handkerchiefs. Both suspect that the incident might have been triggered by the election held in their housing society which was held last month”
“Sudhir has suffered a fracture on his right hand. Santosh has minor injuries on hand. Both are under treatment and stable. We are investigating the case from all angles,” Nagrale said.
The incident had its echo in the Maharashtra legislative Council where Congress MlC Anant Gadgil raised the issue and demand protection to journalists in the light of unabated attacks on media persons.