Senior NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh was injured in November 2024 when unidentified persons allegedly attacked his car with stones near Katol in Nagpur district. However, after a detailed investigation and forensic examination, the police have now filed a ‘B Final’ Report in court and termed the case false.

 

The incident had occurred on November 18, 2024, when Deshmukh was returning from a campaign meeting in Narkhed. He was travelling along the Katol- Bel Phata stretch when stones were allegedly pelted at his car by four people. A stone struck him on the head which caused bleeding injuries and glass pieces were found inside the vehicle. Deshmukh was immediately taken to a hospital in Katol for treatment. The case created political ripples at the time, as Deshmukh was campaigning for his son, Salil Deshmukh, who was contesting the Assembly elections as the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate.

 

 

The Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), Nagpur, submitted a three-page report after examining the car, the broken glass and the stones recovered from the vehicle. Two stones were collected as evidence - one found on the bonnet and another on the driver’s second seat. These were sent for further testing to the State Forensic Laboratory. 

 

 

 1. Reinforced glass cannot break easily - The rear glass of the car was reinforced and could not be broken in a single strike. According to the report, it would take four to five forceful hits for such glass to break. 2. Nature of injury did not match broken glass - Anil Deshmukh’s injury was blunt and hard on the head. If the glass had broken and caused the wound, the injury should have been sharp and caused by shards. However, no glass fragments were found lodged in his wound. 3. Windshield cracks did not match attack theory - The radial crack on the front windshield remained intact, and no glass pieces had fallen inside the car. If the glass had broken from the rear, the fragments should have fallen towards Deshmukh’s feet. This was not the case. The RFSL concluded that the injuries were inconsistent with the alleged stone-pelting incident. The conditions were also recreated under controlled conditions with proper lighting. Despite this, the findings did not support the version given in the complaint.

 

 

Police checked CCTV footage from nearby areas but found no evidence of four suspects, as claimed in the FIR. There were no eyewitnesses or cameras capturing the alleged attackers. Based on the forensic findings and lack of corroborative evidence, police submitted a B Final Report before the court, declaring the case to be false. It may be mentioned here that at the time of the incident, Deshmukh’s party had alleged a conspiracy by rivals to target him during the election season. However, with the ‘B Final report’ now in court, the case is officially closed as a false complaint.