The Pune police announced on Wednesday that it will be re-investigating yet another case of land grabbing, allegedly involving absconding corporator Deepak Mankar and his brother Shivaji Mankar, after Shiv Sena legislator Neelam Gorhe alleged that the city police are shielding the land mafia.

Gorhe addressed the media along with Purnima Prabhu who had filed a complaint at the Shivajinagar police station against close aides of Shivaji Mankar for assaulting her brother and ransacking their house at Mukundananda, FC Road, Shivajinagar on December 29 last year. A family member, Rajiv Prabhu, had suffered serious injuries in the attack.

Purnima alleged that Shivaji and Deepak Mankar masterminded the attack on their house where they have been staying as tenants for 50 years now. “Shivaji Mankar purchased this property from the actual owner and wanted to vacate the tenants. On December 29, around 50 men entered our house and ransacked it,” she said.

Purnima said her brother Rajeev was beaten up severely by the associates of Shivaji Mankar. The police had arrested a couple of goons in this case on December 30 last year.

Gorhe said that though the police took stern action against the assailants, they had registered a criminal case against the injured Rajiv Prabhu and three other family members, which the Bombay High Court later ruled as a false case. “The law and order situation in the city is worse. It seems the police are hand-in-glove with the land grabbers in the city,” Gorhe said, demanding that the case be re-opened.

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