Gauri Lankesh murder accused Shrikant Pangarkar wins Jalna Civic Poll as independent
Jalna: Shrikant Pangarkar, an accused in the 2017 murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, won the Jalna Municipal Corporation elections from Ward 13 as an independent candidate on Thursday. Pangarkar celebrated his victory with supporters after defeating candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties in the ward.
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena did not field a candidate in Ward 13. Ahead of the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Pangarkar had briefly joined the Shiv Sena, but his induction was kept in abeyance following public backlash.
Gauri Lankesh, a senior journalist and activist, was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, a killing that sparked nationwide outrage and debates on freedom of expression, secularism, and political violence.
Pangarkar has a long political history in Jalna. He served as a municipal councillor between 2001 and 2006 when the Shiv Sena was undivided. After being denied a party ticket in 2011, he joined the right-wing Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.
In August 2018, Pangarkar was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in connection with the seizure of crude bombs and weapons from various parts of the state. He was booked under the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In the Gauri Lankesh murder case, Pangarkar was granted bail by the Karnataka High Court on September 4, 2024. His electoral victory has once again drawn attention to the case and the broader debate on criminal cases involving political candidates.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
