Mumbai: A debate over a Facebook post took a violent turn following which a group of unidentified persons attacked and killed Manoj Dubey, Congress leader of Ghatkopar, in the wee hours Monday near Asalpha Metro Station in Ghatkopar. The assailants were armed with swords and knives.
State Congress Chief Ashok Chavan alleged that the assailants belonged to the BJP. According to preliminary information, an objectionable Facebook post criticising Congress MLA Naseem Khan sparked a debate between Congress and BJP workers online.
Congress worker Manoj Dubey and a few others were among those who came out in defence of MLA Naseem Khan. On Sunday, there was a birthday celebration of Naseem Khan, where the quarrel was resolved in the evening. After the birthday celebration, Dubey went to his house in Asalpha village, where he was called by assailants near Asalpha Metro Station and attacked with swords.
Dubey was critically injured in the attack and subsequently rushed to nearby Rajawadi Hospital for treatment, where doctors declared him dead. According to a local, Suraj Singh, a BJP activist, had shared a post on Facebook asking what Naseem Khan has done in this constituency after serving as a minister and MLA for more than 20 years. He was commenting on a post shared by Congress activist about Naseem Khan’s birthday. After that, Dubey went to Singh’s home on Sunday and fought with him over the post. Then Dubey posted that in 2019, Congress will be in power at the Centre. Singh had already filed an NC (non-cognisable crime) at Ghatkopar police station over an alleged quarrel with Dubey. Dubey too filed a cross-complaint.
The Sakinaka police have reportedly arrested BJP Yuva Morcha workers Sunil Dubey, Umesh Singh and Akash Sharma in connection with the crime. They are in search of Suraj Singh for the murder. Further investigation in the case is currently underway.
According to the police, there may be some other reason for the murder which will be revealed only after a thorough investigation.
As per local Congress workers there may be some other reasons for the murder. Dubey had a business and he was financially sound. A business-related dispute may have led to the murder, they said. The Mumbai unit of the Congress condemned the attack and urged the police to investigate and put the perpetrators behind bars. Chavan condemned the attack and said, “This is a murder of democracy. The BJP is going to destroy the harmony in society by forcing people to fighting with each other,” Chavan said.
Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil also condemned the incident. “Is there a state of law?” Vikhe-Patil asked. “The government is going to set a new precedent of killing rival party’s workers over differences in thoughts,” he said.