30 May,2014 08:02 AM IST | | Saurabh Vaktania
The deceased Babu Vijay Parab, an active NCP member, shared a bitter political rivalry with a group of local Congress workers; matters came to a head in the wee hours of Thursday
An uneasy silence descended upon Borivli (East) yesterday, after a 34-year-old NCP worker in the area was allegedly murdered by local Congress workers in the wee hours of Thursday.
Police sources from Kasturba police station said that Parab was an active member of the NCP and had many young supporters
The two parties are estranged allies in the Democratic Front (DF) government ruling the state. The accused allegedly assaulted the victim with bats, stumps, rods, and stones, before fleeing the spot. They are still on the loose. The Kasturba police in Borivli (East) have registered a case and are investigating the matter.
The deceased, identified as NCP worker Santosh alias Babu Vijay Parab, is an on-record criminal and local police revealed that he was on their list of most wanted criminals in the area. They added that the two groups shared a bitter enmity and had clashed several times in the past.
The Rajendra Nagar and Dattapada areas in Borivali (East) were tense yesterday, after news of the killing spread. The police have registered a case against Ashok Koli, Lal Babu Dasare, Ghanshyam Dasare and several others, for rioting, assault, and murder.
Attempt to murder charges were also registered against them, as Shivkumar Dasari, a man who rushed to Parab's rescue, was assaulted brutally. Dasari is now undergoing treatment at the ICCU ward of Kandivli Hospital, and is said to be in a critical condition.
He is the prime eyewitness and the complainant in the case. Police sources from the Kasturba police station said that Parab was an active member of the NCP and had many young supporters. According to them, several Congress workers, who have organised themselves into a group called Jalsa, were their stiff rivals.
Parab, a father of two children, was a resident of Rajendra Nagar. All the accused are residents of the same area. Over the past few weeks, the acrimony between the two groups had escalated, leading to clashes. Several cases had been registered against both the gangs with the local police.
Around 11.30 pm on Wednesday, Parab went to the police station and lodged a non-cognisable complaint against his political rivals. At the police station itself, the Congress workers allegedly threatened Parab that they would kill him.
Parab was returning home at around 3 am on his bike, when the accused ambushed him. He fell, and the bike fell on Parab, immobilising him. Seizing the opportunity, the accused fell upon him and assaulted him repeatedly with bats, stumps, iron rods, chains and other weapons they had brought along with them.
