Mahajan battles death

BJP’s Laxman felled by brother’s gun

BJP GENERAL secretary and Rajya Sabha member Pramod Mahajan was shot at and critically injured by his youngest brother Pravin after a heated argument at his Worli apartment on Saturday morning.

Pravin, who surrendered to the police later, said he fired at Pramod — 10 years older to him — in a “fit of rage” as he had “ill treated” him. Pravin is the youngest of the three Mahajan brothers, with the 56-year-old Pramod being the eldest. He stays in Thane with wife Sarangi and his two children. The second brother, Prakash, stays in Aurangabad. Doctors at the PD Hinduja National Hospital and Research Centre, where Pramod was admitted, said his condition was
critical.

Pramod, who has three bullets lodged in his lower abdomen, is suffering from a shattered pancreas and liver that continued to bleed hours after his surgery.

He is on ventilator support. A borderline diabetic, Pramod’s recovery could be hampered by the injury to his pan-
creas.

Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy ruled out property dispute as the motive. He said the accused told the police that he had committed the crime because of he felt “insulted, neglected and suffered from inferiority complex”.
Pravin said told the police that Pramod treated him and his family “like dirt” and often insulted them in public. He claimed his brother never assisted him financially and kept him away from family functions.

“Life as brother of a prominent personality became a curse to me...I am a poor brother of a rich man,” Pravin said. The police said Pravin “appeared to be of sound mind” when he surrendered. “There is no reason to believe that he (Pravin) is of unstable mind,” Roy said.

Family members said Pramod had had a big role in Pravin’s life — personal as well as professional. It was only a few years ago that they drifted apart.