Cop assault case: Mah MLAs sent in judicial custody till Apr 5

Two Maharashtra legislators, held for allegedly assaulting a traffic police sub-inspector in the assembly premises, were today remanded in judicial custody till April 5 by a court which reserved the order on their bail plea for Monday, making their two-day prison stay inevitable.
MLAs Kshitij Thakur and Ram Kadam were produced before a local court today after their one-day police custody ended.
After hearing the arguments of the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer, Magistrate U M Padwad remanded the two in judicial custody.
Immediately, the duo moved a bail application before the magistrate who reserved the order till Monday. The MLAs will now have to spend two days in the high-security Arthur Road jail in South Mumbai.

Both the legislators were arrested yesterday after they surrendered before police for the alleged assault on traffic police sub-inspector Sachin Suryawanshi in the assembly premises.
On March 19, an FIR was registered at Marine Drive police station against Thakur and Kadam and 14 others in the case. Later, the crime branch took over the investigations.

The investigators told the magistrate that the complainant was still in hospital and the probe was incomplete.
The court was told that the police custody of the two MLAs was not required now and pleaded that the two may be sent to judicial custody, which was granted.

Subsequently, the MLAs moved an application seeking bail, which stated they had surrendered before the crime branch and there was no chance of both of them going absconding.
Defence lawyer Ashok Mundergi also argued that the two are sitting members of the legislative assembly and there is no question of tampering with the evidence by them.