Mud attack on engineer: Congress MLA Nitesh Rane remanded to police custody till July 9

A court in Maharashtra on Friday remanded Congress MLA Nitesh Rane and his supporters, arrested for attacking a deputy engineer with mud at Mumbai-Goa Highway in Kankavali, in police custody till July 9.

Rane and 17 others arrested accused were produced before a court at Kankavli in coastal Sindhudurg district this afternoon and were remanded in police custody till July 9.

Rane and others have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 342 (wrongful confinement and 120-b (criminal conspiracy), an official said.

Nitesh Narayan Rane and his supporters sent to police custody till July 9. He and his supporters were arrested for throwing mud on an engineer in Kankavali. #Maharashtra (File pic) pic.twitter.com/9JZ5Mf3ooc

— ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2019

Earlier, Rane, accompanied by Kankavli Municipal Council President and activists of the NDA-affiliated Maharashtra Swabhiman Party (MSP), had gone to inspect the repair work of the road on the Gad River near Kankavli.

He was irked over the poor condition of the highway and vented his ire on a road sub-engineer by bathing him with wet mud and slime. He can be also seen apparently trying to tie the engineer to a bridge.

As per reports, the construction work on the Mumbai-Goa highway has been undergoing for 4 years. Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari had earlier promised that the work will be over in 2 years but the ground reality is something different.

The assault came close on the heels of an attack by BJP lawmaker Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of senior party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, on a civic official in Indore on June 26.

Akash Vijayvargiya, who was later arrested and spent four days in jail before getting bail, attacked the official with a cricket bat over the demolition of a dilapidated building.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had strongly disapproved of Akash Vijayvargiya's misconduct and told party leaders that arrogance and misbehaviour cannot be tolerated.