Video: Maharashtra minister asks cops to ‘break bones’ of revellers during event

PTI, Jan 4, 2024, 3:51 PM IST

A video has surfaced showing Maharashtra minister Abdul Sattar purportedly asking police to lathi-charge and ‘break the bones’ of revellers to control them during a dance show organised on his birthday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district.

The incident took place on Wednesday night in Sillod town when popular dancer Gautami Patil’s performance was underway.

Sattar, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, represents the Sillod assembly constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He is the Minority Development Minister of the state.

The incident prompted the opposition to target Sattar over the use of his language.

The video shows Sattar giving instructions to police using the microphone from the stage. The clip also shows police mildly lathi-charging some viewers.

Patil is popular among the youth of Maharashtra for her performances on Lavani dance numbers. Her dance show was organised in Sillod to celebrate the birthday of Sattar. A large number of people attended the programme.

But as the viewers went berserk and chaos prevailed, Sattar took the mic in hand.

In the video that went viral, Sattar can be seen initially appealing to the viewers to sit down, but as the situation failed to improve, he instructed the police to start hitting them with their batons.

“Those indulging in drama, beat them like dogs…Baton-charge the people at the back (of the programme venue). Beat them so much that the bone of their bottom is broken,” he asked the police.

Addressing one of the viewers in the crowd, Sattar asked, “Has your father seen such a programme? Are you a demon? You are the son of a human being, so behave like one and watch the programme. Sit down and enjoy the show.”

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, who belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena (UBT), attacked Sattar over the language he used during the programme.

“The kind of language that Sattar used suits his culture and this has also been accepted by the Shinde faction and the BJP that are ruling the state,” he quipped.