Mumbai police probing BJP activists' attack on Gujarati family

Mumbai police are probing a shocking incident in which a Mumbai BJP spokesperson Yogesh Verma and his party activists assaulted a Gujarati family in a road rage incident Tuesday evening, an official said here Thursday.

The altercation was provoked when Malad-based medico Bharat Shah protested Verma's SUV forcibly overtaking their vehicle on the Western Express Highway near Jogeshwari when they (the Shah family) were returning from a post-funeral ceremony from Vile Parle.

Furious over the protest, Verma and his supporters allegedly hammered the Shah family and later BJP workers attacked them outside a hospital where they went to get a medical certificate before lodging a police complaint.

As a huge crowd gathered near the highway, the police arrested Verma's driver Sanjay Singh and four others.

Police have also booked Verma -- presently undergoing treatment in the hospital -- and said he will be arrested after he was discharged.

The police also detained Vrushank Shah, 23, who was driving Shah's vehicle and later sent him to hospital for treatment.

Late Wednesday, Vrushank was arrested and sent to judicial custody for a day and will be released today (Thursday), his sister Kanchi told IANS.

The incident has proved to be of immense embarrassment to the city BJP which is banking on the support of 40 percent of Mumbaikars who are of Gujarati origin. - IANS