Pune: Mahayuti partners Shiv Sena and BJP have sparred over the firing incident in Kothrud involving members of gangster Nilesh Ghaywal gang.Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s Pune chief Ravindra Dhangekar questioned the silence of cabinet minister Chandrakant Patil, who represents the Kothrud assembly constituency.After Kothrud police arrested Ghaywal’s gang members on charges of firing at a person and attacking another person with a billhook last month, the gangster travelled abroad. Later, police said that Ghaywal altered his name to get a new passport under the Tatkal scheme. He left the country using that passport.Dhangekar has raised a question mark over the issue of passport to Ghaywal, who has over a dozen cases registered against him. The Shiv Sena Pune chief said, “The officials who issued the passport to Ghaywal should face action. It is a known fact that the gangster helped some politicians during the elections. If the politicians in the govt are backing such gangsters, they can go to any extent to challenge the police force.“Targeting cabinet minister Patil over the firing incident in Kothrud, Dhangekar said, “Patil should have come out and spoken on the firing incident as he represents the Kothrud constituency. I will keep raising the issue, and I appeal to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to take cognisance of it and take serious action against those who are supporting Ghaywal.”TOI tried to contact Patil for his reaction to Dhangekar’s claims, but despite repeated attempts, he did not respond.
