Mumbai: GRP arrests five men in TV journalist Sudhir Shukla assault case

Mumbai: The Government Railway Police, Andheri, on Friday arrested the five men who had assaulted TV journalist Sudhir Shukla on a Virar-Churchgate local. All the accused are residents of Nallasopara and were identified as Vishal Atmaram Dongre (28), Vivek Maruti Dhumal (32), Ravindra Ramesh Ranawade (28), Sanjay Bhaguji Ambawale (32) and Rajesh Gangaram Gothal (28).

The accused got down from the train at Bandra station after assaulting Shukla between Mira Road and Andheri on Wednesday morning. While addressing the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police Purushottam Karad said, “All the five accused are employed with a BKC-based diamond manufacturer and exporter.”

On Wednesday, at the time of the assault, they were wearing grey-coloured T-shirts which were embossed with the company’s logo. Shukla had told the Andheri GRP in his statement that the group was in uniform but he had a poor recall of the logo since he was ‘writhing in pain.’

DCP Karad traced the company name on Google; he even procured a company T-shirt but Shukla was not sure of himself. So,  he was taken to BKC to identify the accused; again, he failed to do so as all the workers were similarly dressed in uniform.” Then, the RPF decided to vet CCTV footage reports. “After assaulting Shukla, the group got down at Andheri and changed their compartment; later, they got down at Bandra station,” IO Bharat Choudhary told the FPJ.

On Thursday, GRP teams travelled in the Virar-Churchgate train and talked with commuters. “We showed the CCTV grab to commuters who told us that the group boards the train at Nallasopara and gets down at Bandra,” Choudhary said. Based on the input, the GRP personnel nabbed them at their BKC office. They will be produced before the Andheri court on Saturday and have been booked under non-bailable sections of the IPC.