Sena MLA surrenders

Meanwhile, the crowd had managed to blacken Savarkar8217;s face with boot polish. He also suffered several bruises on his shoulders and chest and was treated at the Bhabha Hospital.

When contacted, the MLA denied leading the attack. 8220;I had learnt that some ladies planned to meet Savarkar on Tuesday morning. But they were not allowed in by the security guards. Savarkar himself pushed them aside. So they retaliated by attacking him and smearing his face with boot polish from a nearby cobbler,8221; he told Express Newsline.

8220;It was just then that I reached and tried to intervene,8221; he added, 8220;and was thus named as the prime offender.8221;

The MLA charged Savarkar for misleading the management. According to him Savarkar informed his management that 200 persons were appointed of which 183 were Maharashtrians while the hospital records revealed that 485 were appointed of which 180 were locals.

The Sena MLA revealed that last December he had requested the hospital management to employ locals according to merit. 8220;We gave applications of 500-odd educated youths from the nearby slums in Kherwadi, of which only 11 were absorbed,8221; he claimed.

On June 27 he had led a morcha to the hospital under the banner of Bharatiya Kamgar Sena demanding reinstatement of 40 casual labourers who were dismissed by the hospital and locals in unskilled category. The hospital owner Vijay Mehta had assured him of a solution.

However with no decision having been made so far, Sarmalkar may have decided to lead an attack, police said.

The MLA said he would file a complaint against Savarkar for assaulting the women.8217; No other arrests were made while the investigations are on, the investigating officer Assistant Sub Inspector Sawade said.