Four arrested after NCP supporters clash in Mumbai

Four persons were arrested after a clash broke out between the two rival groups of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) during a rally in the eastern suburbs of Deonar here, police said today.
Four accused have been arrested in this connection while five are still at large, they said.
Police had booked nine persons soon after a scuffle broke out yesterday between the supporters of NCP leaders Nawab Malik and Sanjay Dina Patil.
According to police, some persons reportedly brandished weapons at the event. Malik, a spokesperson of Maharashtra unit of NCP, was present at the meeting while Patil reportedly arrived late at the venue.

The altercation erupted after supporters of Malik and Patil, a former Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai, began sloganeering against each other, police said.
Supporters of both NCP leaders had gathered outside Deonar police station . Malik alleged that Patil resorted to firing at the event and he was injured in an attack by his sword-wielding supporters.

"Sanjay Dina Patil tried to attack me and he had pistol in his hands. I was attacked with swords by his people," Malik alleged.
However, Patil rejected Malik's allegation and claimed that it was he who was attacked with swords when he was coming to attend the meeting.

Initial reports suggest that there was firing at the event, but Ashok Dudhe, spokesperson and Deputy Commissioner of Police denied such an incident.