A man was attacked by sharp weapons in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra for allegedly supporting suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma, who made derogatory statements against Prophet Mohmmad.
The attack took place in the Karjat town of the district on Thursday evening and the victim has been identified as Sunny Pawar. He has sustained serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
Manoj Patil, Superintendent of Police (Ahmednagar), told Hindustan Times on Saturday that based on a complaint filed by Sunny Pawar’s friend Amit Mane on Friday, four people have been arrested.
Pawar was attacked when he and Mane were going to attend an event on his two-wheeler and were waiting for a friend near a medical shop.
As they were waiting, some men approached them on a two-wheeler, news agency PTI reported. They were carrying a sword, sickle, and hockey sticks, according to the First Information Report (FIR).
Mane’s complaint stated that one of the attackers shouted at Sunny Pawar saying he wrote a post on social media in support of Nupur Sharma.
“Since Pawar has been assaulted, we have arrested four persons. We are verifying details from FIR about the social media post. The victim in this case also has a criminal history,” SP Manoj Patil further told HT.
This incident in Ahmednagar comes more than a month after Umesh Kolhe, a medical store owner, was hacked to death in Maharashtra’s Amravati city for supporting Nupur Sharma on social media. Kolhe was killed on the night of June 21 by three young men on a bike when he was going back home on a scooter.
Seven people were arrested in connection with his murder.