2 suspended MLAs in police custody

Public Prosecutor Kiran Bendbhar told the court that Kadam and Thakur needed to be questioned in order to identify the 15 other MLAs who participated in the assault. Besides the two MLAs,the Speaker had suspended Rajan Salvi and Pradeep Jaiswal of the Shiv Sena and Jaikumar Rawal of the BJP. The FIR based on Assistant Police Inspector Traffic Sachin Suryavanshis account suggested 15 other MLAs were involved in the assault.

Ashok Mundargi,counsel for Kadam and Thakur,argued that police could use CCTV footage to identify the other accused. He also said that Suryavanshi had only gone to the Vidhan Bhawan to reply to some queries and was not strictly on duty.

Suryavanshi went to Vidhan Bhawan on the summons of Legislative Council chairman Vasant Davkhare.

The assault on Suryavanshi on the first floor of Vidhan Bhawan on Tuesday afternoon was allegedly the result of an argument on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link after Suryavanshi stopped Thakur for speeding. Subsequently,Thakur and Kadam were booked by the police and the case was handed over to the Crime Branch.

The two MLAs reached the Crime Branch headquarters on Thursday and were taken to the Unit I office,where their statements were recorded.