Milind Deora, who recently dumped the Congress and joined the Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, said on Friday that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar who was shot dead during a Facebook Live session was due to an “internal party dispute”.
Abhishek Ghosalkar (40), a former corporator who was the son of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinod Ghosalkar, was shot dead by local businessman and social activist Mauris Noronha on Thursday. Noronha later killed himself, police said.
In a post on X, Deora said Mumbai remains the safest city in the country and asserted it was “unfortunate” that such incidents were being politicised. He, however, said there was an urgent need to review arms licences given to politicians.
“Emerging evidence suggests that the shocking murder of Abhishek Ghosalkar by Mauris Noronha was the result of an internal party dispute. It’s unfortunate that such instances are being politicised in Mumbai, which remains the safest city in the country,” he said.
“I believe there is an urgent need to review arms licences granted to political workers and I urge Mumbai Police to take strict action against those behind this incident,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition in Maharashtra hit out at the Eknath Shinde-led government over the incident. Priyanka Chaturvedi, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, slammed Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“The only people coming to rescue and defend the disgraced Home Minister of Maharashtra are his paltu (pet) trolls on the timeline, forget alliance members even his own party has deserted him. Ye meltdown acha hai (this meltdown is good)!” she tweeted on Friday night.
ABHISHEK GHOSALKAR SHOT DEAD DURING FACEBOOK LIVE
Noronha, who shot dead Abhishek Ghosalkar during a Facebook Live, suspected that the latter had implicated him in a rape case, police said, as per a report by news agency PTI.
Noronha (48) used his bodyguard Amarendra Mishra’s licenced pistol to shoot Ghosalkar and later killed himself.
Mishra was arrested on Friday under Section 29 (B) of the Arms Act, which deals with the offence of handing over a weapon to someone without ascertaining if the person is legally permitted to possess it, an official told news agency PTI.
(with inputs from PTI)