No bullet was fired: Nitesh Rane probe

Confusion prevailed a day after a case of attempt to murder was lodged against revenue minister Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh for firing at one of his activists, Chintu Sheikh. Investigators doubt the crime occurred, and are unclear about the motive behind the incident.

The inspection of the crime scene failed to establish that bullets were fired inside the room. The glass wall which the bullet was said to have hit before brushing the complainant’s cheek did not have any cracks. “No bullet shell was found inside the office,” said senior police inspector Mangesh Pote of Khar police station.

Also, the hospital authorities on Friday said that Sheikh’s injury does not seem to have been caused by a bullet. The investigators are now trying to figure out how the complainant sustained the injury.

Sheikh, 35, in his statement to the police, had alleged that he was called to NGO Swabhimaan’s Khar office by Rane’s personal assistant. When Sheikh bowed to touch Rane’s feet, Rane pulled him by his hair and started assaulting him ‘without any provocation’. Two of his bodyguards and the personal assistant also joined him in thrashing Sheikh. Two police constables attached to the protection branch of Mumbai police, who were deployed at the office for Rane’s security, were witness to the incident, Sheikh had alleged. “However, the constables have told us that no firing took place,” said Pote.

Sheikh said that he managed to escape and tried to reach out to three of his friends, including a journalist, whom he had kept waiting outside. However, when he got there, two of them had left as they were getting late. Sheikh then sat in his Indigo car parked outside and drove it with one of the remaining friends sitting next to him. After some distance, the friend started feeling dizzy on seeing the blood oozing out of his (Sheikh’s) injury, and got off from the car.

After taking shortcuts, Sheikh reached Hiranandani hospital, Powai, and got himself admitted. The police are now in the process of recording the statement of Sheikh’s friends. Sheikh’s wife Simran, who was in constant touch with him, told the media, “I heard the bullet shots as I was on the phone with my husband at that time. I then immediately rushed to the hospital.”

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena on Friday launched an attack on the state government alleging that the police are deliberately going soft on the investigation, a charge which was later denied by chief minister Ashok Chavan.

Narayan Rane said, “The entire episode has been cooked up by the Shiv Sena to tarnish Nitesh’s name in the eyes of Mumbaikars. Nitesh has spent too much time and effort in giving back to the society and for bettering people’s lives on hard-hitting issues like water and water mafia in the past. Nitesh will not be bogged down by such false claims and will continue to serve the common man.”