Stones hurled at Shiv Sena MLA’s SUV after Uddhav Thackeray event in Ahmednagar

The SUV of a Shiv Sena MLA in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra was pelted with stones on Tuesday allegedly by a rival faction immediately after party president Uddhav Thackeray had felicitated the legislator on the occasion of his birthday, police said.

After the incident, some sections of the media reported that Thackeray’s convoy had come under the attack. However, a Sena spokesperson dismissed these reports.

The incident took place in Parner taluka in the afternoon after Thackeray’s convoy had left towards a helipad, located 9 km away from the programme venue, after the event.

As soon as the Sena chief’s convoy left, the driver of the SUV of the MLA Vijay Auti, 61, started the vehicle and sped, apparently to catch up with the motorcade, when it nearly brushed former MLA Anil ‘Bhaiyya’ Rathod and his supporters, a senior officer said.

“This provoked some Sena workers who hurled a stone at the vehicle, damaging its windshield,” Ahmednagar SP Ranjankumar Sharma told PTI.

He said the MLA was not present in the SUV when the incident occurred.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

Hinting at rivalry between the MLA and other faction of the party, the SP said supporters of local Sena leader Nilesh Lanke had tried to raise slogans in his support during Thackeray’s programme.

Rathod said stones were pelted due to rash driving by the driver of the SUV which nearly dashed some Sena activists standing near the venue.

The SP said no complaint was received by the police.