Senior CPI leader Govind Pansare, who led a campaign against road toll tax, and his wife were shot at by motorcycle-borne assailants near their house, prompting widespread condemnation of the incident.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and NCP chief Sharad Pawar were among the first to condemn the attack on Pansar, who was at the forefront of a recent anti-toll agitation in Kolhapur.

The assailants fired at Pansare and his wife on Monday morning outside the Ideal Housing Society at Kolhapur, when the couple was returning after their daily morning walk from Shivaji University.

While Pansare was hit by bullets on the nape of his neck and another brushing his hand, his wife Sau Uma Pansare suffered a single bullet injury, said Kolhapur Superintendent of Police, Omprakash Sharma.

They were rushed to Aster Aadhar Hospital in Kolhapur.

Pansare is said to be in a critical condition while his wife is out of danger, the police said.

Condemning the incident, Pawar said, “This attack is a matter of concern for a progressive state like Maharashtra.” Fadnavis said ten police teams have been formed to nab the culprits.

NCP Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule said the government must take strong action to stop such “cowardly acts.” Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray spoke to the Chief Minister, demanding that the assailants be nabbed.

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil sought dismissal of the state police chief, saying he was not competent enough to tackle the law and order situation.

“The state needs a full-time Home minister,” he said. The portfolio is held by Fadnavis.

Later, Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde left for Kolhapur to take stock of the incident.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar warned that there would be retaliation from people if the government does not take strong action against those trying to suppress the liberal and progressive views.

Sadanand More, president of the Akhbil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan-2015, said the attack was an attempt to stop the liberal and progressive views.

“The kind of atmosphere prevailing in Maharashtra is vitiating,” More said.

The CPI(M) has given a state-wide protest call against the attack.

Shiv Sena leader and Union Minister Anant Geete condemned the attack on Pansare and said it was a “challenge” for the state government.

“We Condemn-senior CPI leader Govind Rao Pansare shot at in Kohlapur-Maharashtra, where he was leading a campaign against toll tax!,” Congress leader Ajay Maken tweeted.

Condemning the incident, CPI (M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said such incidents are “becoming a sort of a routine matter” in Maharashtra.

“Yes, he was leading an agitation of Left parties against toll taxes…that has been a very popular and a very big agitation and surely there are vested interests who would lose because of this. They may be targeting.

“Also he has written a very popular book on projection of Shivaji and what actually the history was and how these are being used by all these Hindu communal outfits mainly Shiv Sena and the BJP. So that could also be one of the reasons,” Yechury said.

“So whatever be the actual reasons, proper investigation has to be done,” he said. He said the CPI (M) has given a state-wide protest call against the attack.

A special court has convicted gangster Abu Salem in the murder of a Mumbai-based builder in 1995. Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 and has been in Arthur Road Jail ever since.

A TADA court found Salem guilty of the murder of builder Pradeep Jain, who was shot dead by assailants outside his Juhu bungalow in March, 1995. The police alleged that he had refused to give up a huge property to Salem.

This is the first judgement in a case involving Salem in India after he was extradited in 2005. Salem, another builder Virendra Jhamb and Mehndi Hassan faced the trial in the case.

Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.

The Supreme Court of Portugal, in 2012, had dismissed an appeal of the CBI which had challenged termination of his extradition. He has also moved Supreme Court of Portugal seeking directions to the Indian government to execute its order of cancelling his extradition.

In June 2012, Salem was shot at in Taloja Central jail in Navi Mumbai allegedly by gangster Devendra Jagtap alias JD, an accused in the murder of advocate Shahid Azmi who had represented a 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused.

Salman Khan did not possess a driving license when his car met with an accident in 2002, an officer at Regional Transport Office (RTO) on Monday informed the Sessions court hearing the hit-and-run case.

The witness, who is an assistant inspector at RTO, told Session Judge D W Deshpande that the actor had obtained driving license only in 2004 and did not have the license when the incident took place.

The witness produced the records of the actor’s driving license before the court when he was examined by Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat.

Another witness who is a police sub-inspector told the court that he had accompanied Salman to J J hospital for blood test. The witness said that the actor was taken to doctor Shashikant Pawar for the blood test to find out whether he had consumed alcohol.
These two witnesses were examined on Monday in the trial court which is conducting hearing on a day-to-day basis.

More than 20 witnesses have already been examined and a few more are left. On September 28, 2002, the actor’s car rammed into a bakery in Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others sleeping outside.

The case, dragging on for over a decade, took a twist when a city Magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was made out against 49-year-old actor, and referred the case to the sessions court.

The charge of culpable homicide attracts a 10-year sentence. Earlier the charge against Salman was causing death by negligence, which entails imprisonment of up to two years.