Maharashtra: Shiv Sena-UBT Leader Abhishek Ghosalkar Shot Dead During Facebook Live; Police Claim Personal Rivalry

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasahesb Thackeray) leader and former corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar was shot dead last night during a Facebook live session in the Dahisar area of Maharashtra's Mumbai. The leader was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to gunshot injuries. The assailant later also died by suicide as he shot himself. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has claimed a rivalry between the victim and his assailant identified as Mauris Noronha.

"The officers from the Crime Branch are carrying out the probe. Prima facie, it seems there was some kind of a rivalry between these two and the killing may have been a fallout of the same," DCP (Crime Branch) Raj Tilak Roushan said.

कुछ दिनों पहले महाराष्ट्र के पुलिस थाने के अंदर BJP विधायक ने गोलियां चलाई थी,

और आज Live कैमरे पर शिवसेना (UBT) के नेता Abhishek Ghosalkar पर गोलियां चलाई गयी।

ये 'जंगलराज' नही तो फिर क्या? pic.twitter.com/hySUBWWZPM — Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) February 8, 2024

This is the second such incident in January. Earlier, BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad allegedly opened fire at Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) faction leader Mahesh Gaikwad at Hill Line Police Station in Ulhasnagar, triggering sharp reactions from the opposition leaders.

The opposition has alleged failure of law and order in the state. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said that the incidents mark the beginning of 'Jungle Raj' in the state.

Tearing into the Eknath Shinde-led NDA government, former minister and Sena-UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray said such lawlessness never prevailed under previous regimes. Claiming a total breakdown of law and order under the current dispensation, Aaditya Thackeray took to his official X handle to post, "Maharashtra has seen lawlessness like never before. It is shocking beyond words to see the law-and-order situation fail as it has today. Does the system exist at all to protect the common man? Does fear of the law exist? The administration has fully crumbled to being absent." (With ANI inputs)