A close aide of Underworld don Chhota Rajan and 13 others have been asked to leave the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency in coastal Maharashtra where polling is underway, a police official said Tuesday.
Nilesh Paradkar, an alleged henchman of the don, has many cases registered against him in Mumbai.
He and his aides were camping in Sindhudurg during the poll campaigning, the official said.
Photographs of Paradkar purportedly sharing a stage with Maharashtra Minister of State (Home) Deepak Kesarkar and Shiv Sena-BJP alliance candidate Vinayak Raut were circulated on the social media.
Acting on specific input, police raided a hotel in Kankavli and detained Paradkar and his aides, the official said.
Kankavli assembly segment, a stronghold of former chief minister Narayan Rane, is part of the Lok Sabha constituency.
Rane's son Nilesh is in the poll fray from the Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha. His another son Nitesh is the sitting MLA from Kankavli.
"The 14 persons were asked to leave the (Lok Sabha) constituency as they are not local residents. They do not have any criminal record in Sindhudurg. Nothing suspicious was found against them during questionning," said Dixit Gedam, Superintendent of Police.
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