‘Stone me or shoot me, won’t spare anyone,’ says Anil Deshmukh after discharge

Nagpur/Mumbai: Former Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s home minister Anil Deshmukh was discharged from a private hospital a day after he was injured in a potentially fatal stone-pelting incident last night.

As soon as he was wheeled out, Deshmukh - with bandages covering his head - displayed his fiery spirit by accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of the attack that sparked a massive political uproar a day before the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly elections.

“Let them stone me or shoot me… I will not die. But I will not spare,” vowed a grim Deshmukh, raising his arms feebly at the gathering comprising his anxious supporters and local party leaders.

He alleged that it was the BJP which was behind the stone-pelting incident last night and said he would not leave any of them.

Late on Tuesday, Deshmukh was rushed to the Katol Civil Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Nagpur where he underwent treatment and a CT scan, the report of which turned out to be normal.

A party leader said in Mumbai that Deshmukh may have suffered deep head injuries but some cuts as the vehicle window glasses were shattered in the indiscriminate stone-pelting.

It may be recalled that Deshmukh was proceeding home after attending an election meeting in Narkhed village of Katol Assembly constituency.

En route on the Jalalkheda-Katol Road near the Bel-fata, an unknown mob suddenly appeared, waylaid the vehicle, raised slogans and started pelting stones indiscriminately at Deshmukh’s car, shattering the windshield and windows.

The senior NCP (SP) leader suffered at least one hit on the head and he started bleeding, as pictures and videos of the mob attack went viral late on Monday night.

Deshmukh, in a semi-conscious state, was rushed to the Katol Civil Hospital and early today shifted to a private hospital where he underwent multiple tests.

Earlier, Nagpur Collector Dr. Vipin Itankar said that the district administration and Superintendent of Police have taken serious note of the attack, police teams have rushed to the spot, a probe has been initiated and those found guilty would not be spared.

The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress-NCP(SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT) strongly condemned the incident with some leaders pointing an accusing finger at the BJP.

MVA leaders like Sharad Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad, Clyde Crasto, Mahesh Tapase (all NCP-SP), SS (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, Sushma Andhare and Kishore Tiwari, and Congress’ Nana Patole, M. Arif Naseem Khan, Atul Londhe-Patil and others, slammed the ruling MahaYuti for the attack and blamed BJP’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis for the collapse of law-and-order.

On the other hand, the ruling MahaYuti leaders appeared rattled by the possible ramifications of the brutal attack that happened just a day before the high-stakes November 20 elections.

Meanwhile, the Nagpur Rural Police have booked a case against 4 unknown persons for an attempt to murder and a probe team searched the incident spot near Bel-fata.

They conducted a panchnama, collected forensic evidence, towed away the badly damaged vehicle for investigations and are questioning locals to track the suspects behind the attack.