Sena MLA held after he kidnaps, assaults Express group reporter

Mohainraj Lahade, a reporter with Loksatta, the Marathi daily of The Indian Express group, was kidnapped and beaten up by local Shiv Sena ML...

Mohainraj Lahade, a reporter with Loksatta, the Marathi daily of The Indian Express group, was kidnapped and beaten up by local Shiv Sena MLA Anil Rathod and four of his accomplices for allegedly reporting a hearing in the District Court which did not go in Rathod’s favour.

Rathod, a former minister, and his accomplices — Ganesh Vaman, Sagar Gore and Vijay Shinde — were arrested on Wednesday morning and later released on bail. They have been booked under various sections of the IPC for wrongful confinement, assault, trespass, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and kidnapping. After Rathod’s arrest, his supporters gathered on Chitale Road and tried to close down shops forcibly.

Lahade, 29, was admitted to the Civil Hospital here and treated for bruises all over.

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A group of Rathod’s supporters had barged into the Loksatta office on Station Road here at 10.15 p.m. on Tuesday and forcibly carried off Lahade to Neta Subhash Chowk, where he was punched and beaten up. Three other Loksatta staffers who tried to rescue Lahade were also assaulted. The assailants later took Lahade to Rathod’s office and residence, where he was beaten with sticks by Rathod himself. Lahade was reportedly forced to drink liquor, which on his refusal, was poured over his clothes.

On Tuesday afternoon, a few of Rathod’s supporters had visited the Loksatta office asking for Lahade. The men threatened the staff with ‘‘dire consequences’’ for carrying a report on the District Court hearing of a case filed by the Bhingar Urban Co-operative Bank against Rathod. The report said the bank has seized the MLA’s jeep for non-payment of a loan and will auction it.

Later in the evening, two of Rathod’s men visited Lahade’s residence in Agarkar Mala and asked for his whereabouts. Leader of the Opposition in state assembly Narayan Rane told the media in Pune that the Sena would not support Rathod on this issue. ‘‘We believe that nobody should behave with the media in this manner,’’ he said. The party would decide on action against the MLA after obtaining the details of the alleged attack, he said.