CPI leader Govind Pansare critical, but stable; Police detain 5

Govind Pansare’s condition continued to remain critical on Tuesday, a day after unknown motorcycle-borne assailants shot him and his wife while they were on their morning walk. Doctors treating and monitoring Pansare’s condition said he was critical, but stable, while his wife was completely out of danger.

Photo: PTI

Pansare, 78, a senior CPI leader from Kolhapur and an activist received three gunshot injures – one each on neck, armpit and right leg close to the knee, and his wife was hit by a bullet and is now out of danger.

“Pansare is critical but stable,” Aster Aadhar Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Ulhas Damle said in a statement.

“Pansare underwent three operations yesterday which lasted for about eight hours. A team of nine doctors operated upon him and managed to remove a bullet lodged in his chest after he was shot in the armpit. The bleeding from the injury in his neck was also controlled. He was later shifted to the ICU,” he said.

However, there has been some damage to his lungs because of which he has been kept on a ventilator. But his pulse and blood pressure are stable and kidneys are functioning normally, Damle said.Pansare’s wife Uma was also operated for a fracture in the right side of her skull and is now being treated in the ICU, the CMO said.

In the meantime, the police are searching for the assailants who are still at large. 5 people suspected to be involved in this have been detained by the police. Officials confirmed this and refused to comment any further.

The attack on Mr Pansare is akin to the one on Mr Narendra Dabholkar. A Pune-based social activist, Dabholkar was shot at while he was on his regular morning walk in Pune. Mr Dabholkar’s assassins are still at large, though the case is under investigation.

The attack on Govind Pansare has triggered a huge outrage. Many senior leaders, including Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Leader of the Opposition Party in state Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil have chastised the attack on Pansare.

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About Shruti Dabholkar

Shruti Dabholkar is a young and an aspiring journalist who covers political news on the national front. She is an ambitious and desiring girl who finds politics interesting. She writes articles for Spectralhues. She can be followed on Twitter: @Shruti_d9.