A day after a Shiv Sena activist was stabbed to death at his home in Malad East, tension gripped the area Wednesday even as police arrested five suspects, one of them a minor. The victim, Ramesh Jadhav (28), was murdered after he intervened in a fight between his younger brother and two other men near his home. The assailants fled after attacking Jadhav with swords and other sharp weapons. The arrested suspects have been identified as Shahrukh alias Shoaib Sajida (22), Imran Anwar Sajida (23), Gullu Wali Mohammad Sajida (40), Yusuf Wali Mohammad Ansari (40) and a 17-year-old boy. After the murder, activists of the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad took to streets, forcing shops and other establishments to down shutters. They also ransacked the home of the suspects, dumping their belongings onto the street. Police claimed to have rounded up several of them from Dindoshi and Kurar for rioting. Police deployment has been stepped up in the area as a preventive measure. “We have made sufficient deployment in the area. There is no communal tension in the area, which many parties are trying to create,” said Kishor Jadhav, Additional Commissioner of Police (north region).
According to the police, the incident occurred at 4.30 pm in Khot Dongri in Dindoshi. Locals in the area said the suspects often picked fights and would get violent. Jayesh Trivedi, an eye-witness, said they first assaulted his brother and mother when Ramesh’s younger brother Babu came to their rescue. When they started assaulting Babu too, Ramesh, who was returning home, attempted to intervene. “He told the assailants he did not want any trouble and asked them to go home. But Shahrukh and Imran called other accomplices for help. They chased down Ramesh and started stabbing him across the chest and in the stomach. Ramesh tried to fight back, but was overpowered. The assailants fled after realising Ramesh was dead,” Trivedi said. Ramesh was rushed to Ashoka Hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival.
The police arrested three men on Tuesday night and the others two, including the minor, on Wednesday. “They have been charged with murder and remanded by court to police custody until October 28,” said an officer at Dindoshi police station. Ramesh, who is survived by his wife Nisha and one-year-old daughter Arya, was the main breadwinner in the family, also providing for his younger brother and mother. His father passed away in 2000. He ran a small imitation jewellery business near his home.