Internal warfare at Congress Bhavan

200-strong mob destroys Suresh Kalmadi's cabin, tears his posters, breaks chairs; police suspect opponents of city MP in Congress behind violence

Internal warfare at Congress Bhavan

200-strong mob destroys Suresh Kalmadi's cabin, tears his posters, breaks chairs; police suspect opponents of city MP in Congress behind violence

A largeu00a0number of Congress workers believed to be from an anti-Kalmadi faction in the city unit of the party went on the rampage at the Congress Bhavan in Shivajinagar last night. The violence followed au00a0 show of support for the arrested city MP by his loyalists in the Congress earlier in the day.

Remains of the day: (Clockwise from top) Congress party activists tore
posters and banners of Suresh Kalmadi placed right inside his cabin in
Congress House

Congress activists Arun Dhimdhime, Virendra Kirad, V K Jain and Sunil Shinde were present on the premises when the incident happened. These eyewitnesses said a group of 200 people entered the Congress Bhavan premises and managed to break into the hall that houses Kalmadi's cabin.

Cty Congress chief Abhay Chhajed with party activists assess the damage

The witnesses said the mob used stones to break the door latch, tore posters bearing pictures of Kalmadi, smashed glasses and broke the generator and chairs in the cabin and hall. "They did not even spare posters of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," said a witness.

Plicemen inspect Kalmadi's ransacked cabin inside Congress House

Police Inspector Maya Bankar from Shivajinagar police station said a complaint was lodged after the violence by Vilas Landge (28), a youth Congress worker.

Kalmadi's damaged cabin after it was ransacked. Pics/Salil Urunkar

"According to the complaint, a mob of around 200 people entered the Congress Bhavan premises between 9.15 pm and 9.30 pm. The suspects entered a hall in the main building and went berserk. We have got the names of the suspects and have taken them into custody," said Bankar. "They are Congress workers and seem to be upset with what happened earlier in the day at Congress Bhavan. We are verifying the claims made in the complaint and further action will be taken accordingly."

Unconfirmed reports said the names of some of the activists who damaged the Congress Bhavan were said to be Chetan Agarwal, Ayub Pathan, Yogesh Bhokre, Prashant Surse and Sabir Shaikh. The police refused to confirm whether these were the names of the people involved in the violence, saying that investigations were still in progress.

City Congress chief Abhay Chhajed said, "We condemn this attack and those who have done it should know that this is certainly not the Congress party tradition. We have the names of the suspects and everybody knows who their leader is. A formal police complaint has been registered and suitable action will be taken against those responsible for the act."