Rebel Sena leader Uday Samant’s car attacked in Katraj

In the evening, Thackeray addressed a rally in Katraj area, which was attended by a large number of supporters. Some time around 8.30 pm, Uday Samant, who was minister for technical and higher education in the MVA government and is now part of the Shinde faction of Sena, was passing through the same area in his car. Samant was on his way to attend an event with Shinde.

Preliminary information suggests that Samant’s car was stopped near Katraj Chowk by a group of people who, police believe, were from the crowd that had gathered for Aaditya’s rally. The group raised slogans against Samant and some of them started banging against the car.

A senior police official said that a glass of Samant’s car was broken amid the chaos that ensued.

Another officer said police constabulary and officers deployed at the spot had to use force to disperse the crowd and make way for Samant’s vehicle to move forward. Additional force was later brought to the area to avoid any further law and order situation. The situation remained tense and the crowd kept chanting slogans against Samant.

Senior officials from Pune City Police said because of the incident, police presence across the city was stepped up as a precautionary measure. Officials said that a thorough probe will be conducted into the sequence of events that took place.