Mumbai: Feeling sick after muck poured on me at behest of Shiv Sena MLA, claims contractor's employee

Photo used for representational purpose. Pic/iStock

Days after he was forced to sit on a waterlogged road and garbage was thrown on him at the behest of a Shiv Sena MLA in Mumbai for allegedly not cleaning a drain properly, the victim, who is working as a supervisor for a civic contractor, on Tuesday claimed to have contracted an infection and developed difficulty in breathing after the incident.

Justifying his act, Chandivali MLA Dilip Lande had said the contractor was supposed to clean the nullah in Sanjay Nagar area in Kurla properly which he had not done leading to water-logging during rains.

After the video of Saturday's incident went viral, Lande said he wanted the "contractor" to realise his responsibility. However, it turned out that the man who was made to sit on the waterlogged road was Narpat Kumar (26), a temporary supervisor working with a civic contractor.

Kumar told PTI that he had filed a written complaint about the incident with the Ghatkopar police station. "I have contracted some kind of infection. I am also facing difficulty in breathing after the incident," he claimed.

According to Kumar, he was admitted in a private hospital in suburban Borivli on Saturday night and discharged on Monday night.

"I am going back to my native place in UP today. My family was shocked when they learnt about the incident after watching the video and they haven't slept for the past two days. Therefore, I am going to see them," he said.

Also Read: Shiv Sena MLA makes contractor sit on road, asks workers to dump garbage on him

Kumar said he started working with the contractor just a month ago after returning from his village in Uttar Pradesh, but the last week's incident left him shocked. He claimed Lande and his supporters had also threatened him.

In his complaint with the police, Kumar stated the concerned drain was cleaned just eight days before the incident, but somebody again dumped garbage into it.

In the video, Lande can be heard telling the man, later identified as Kumar, to sit down in the water and asked some civic workers present there to throw garbage on him.

"Why did your boss not come? Sit there and call your boss. I have been calling your boss for the past one hour and he did not turn up. There has been water-logging here for the past eight days. Do the cleaning work now. Sit here until your boss comes," Lande had said.

Speaking to reporters, Lande later said, "The contractor was supposed to clean Sanjay Nagar nullah, which he has not done properly. When the area started getting water-logged during the rain, I called him, but he did not come. When some Shiv Sainiks and I started working towards clearing the drain and the road, the contractor arrived".

The MLA's act invited criticism from Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar who demanded that the Maharashtra Chief Minister clarify if such behaviour was justified.

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