Thane engineer claims he was thrashed at Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad's bungalow for posting morphed image; case registered

Thane: A 40-year-old civil engineer in Thane has claimed that policemen took him to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister Jitendra Awhad’s bungalow instead of the police station, where the minister’s men thrashed him for posting a morphed photo. The victim, in a police complaint, also alleged that he was beaten with a bamboo stick and belt in front of the minister. [caption id=“attachment_8240831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of NCP leader Jitendra Awhad. ANI[/caption] The alleged incident took place on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked people to light diyas or torch to show a ‘collective resolve’ against coronavirus. Anant Karmuse, a resident of Ghodbunder, had posted a photo morphed with Awhad’s face and a lit-up match stick with a caption, “I protest against the person who has edited the photo.” “On Sunday night, two policemen came to my house and said that they wanted to take me to the police station as their superior wanted to enquire about some case,” he said. Karmuse said the policemen then took him to Awhad’s bungalow. “Upon reaching there, 10 to 15 men were already present, the security guard informed the minister and soon those men started beating me. They thrashed me with lathis, belt, and bamboos after the stick broke,” he said. Thane police PRO Sukhada Narkar said an FIR has been registered against unknown people following the complaint. Awhad took to Twitter, posting a screenshot of a photo that was morphed and said, “Do you support this pervert. Will you tolerate this done against you or your family member. I don’t support lawlessness.” Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday demanded removal of Awhad from the state Cabinet for the alleged assault on the engineer. “This is a serious incident where private bodyguards of a minister beat up a civilian by bringing him to his home. The minister was present when the man was being thrashed,” the BJP leader and former chief minister said. Former NCP leader and BJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare also took to Twitter to show how the man was beaten brutally and said that no action was taken against Awhad’s ‘goons’.