MNS-Congress workers clash over pamphlet in Vikhroli

Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli East turned into a battleground late Sunday night as clashes erupted between MNS workers and Congress supporters over a pamphlet

Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli East turned into a battleground late Sunday night as clashes erupted between MNS workers and Congress supporters over a pamphlet. According to police sources, five MNS workers were injured in the clashes, following which a mob of around 30 to 40 people vandalised over a dozen shops in the area. Two local food vendors sustained injuries when their shops were vandalised.

Aftab Qureshi, food vendor whose shop was vandalised

Consequently, more than 50 police personnel were deployed across Vikhroli East to prevent further agitations between supporters of both the parties. Locals confirmed that the cops remained stationed in the area till the early hours of the morning.

According to police sources, MNS worker Vishwajit Dholam had been distributing certain pamphlets in the area among shopkeepers when alleged Congress supporters interrupted him. The pamphlets sought to urge local shop owners to ensure that the name of their shops, on its boards, was printed in Marathi instead of English.

Senior MNS leader Nitin Sardesai said, "Our workers were simply distributing pamphlets among shopkeepers when a Congress supporter named Ansari, along with a group of some other men, attacked our men. What the Congress workers did was wrong and we will retaliate against this attack, very soon."

The MNS workers injured were immediately shifted to Fortis Hospital. MNS president Raj Thackeray's son, Amit Thackeray, visited Fortis Hospital around 2 am to check on the condition of the injured.

Barely hours after Sardesai addressed the media, a mob of over 30 people, believed to be from MNS, attacked around 12 shops in the Vikhroli East area.

DCP Akhilesh Kumar Singh said, "We are in the process of recording statements in the case. We had deployed police personnel in the area."

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