Kalyan: A sessions court rejected the bail applications of former Shiv Sena corporators Nitin Patil, his brother Ravi Patil, and their two sons who have been accused of allegedly assaulting a BJP office-bearer on the eve of polling for the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) elections at Panel No. 29.With the court refusing to grant relief, all four accused will continue to remain in judicial custody.While passing the order on Saturday, Kalyan sessions judge N P Vasade raised serious concerns over the conduct of Ramnagar police in Dombivli, particularly regarding the dilution of charges during the probe. The court sought an explanation as to why police first invoked BNS Section 109 (attempt to murder) and later reduced the offence to Section 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), and on what legal basis the change was made.Mahayuti allies BJP and Shiv Sena were locked in a “friendly fight” in Panel No. 29 in Dombivli, where the Patil brothers were in the fray, along with BJP candidate Aarya Natekar. On Jan 14 night, tensions flared over alleged distribution of money in Tukaram Nagar, leading to a clash between the workers of both parties. During the altercation, Aarya Natekar’s husband Omnath sustained serious injuries. Based on his complaint, police registered an FIR against the four Patil family members and arrested them.While in judicial custody, the health of Nitin and Ravi deteriorated. They were admitted to Thane Civil Hospital and later shifted to a private hospital. After being discharged on February 2, they were taken into custody and produced before the court on February 3. At this stage, investigating officer Rajendra Khedkar replaced the attempt-to-murder charge with lesser sections, thereby altering the nature of the offence. The defence then moved court seeking bail.On Saturday, defence advocates argued that the Patils were respectable residents of Dombivli, had no criminal background, and that the seriousness of the offence had been exaggerated. Judge Vasade questioned the rationale behind changing Section 109 to Section 118(1) and also noted that crucial medical and X-ray reports were not placed on record. Taking serious note of these lapses, the court denied bail to the Patils.All four Sena candidates from Panel No. 29, including Nitin, his wife and Ravi, were defeated by BJP candidates in the KDMC elections.
