Mumbai
oi-Prakash KL
The Maharashtra Police has arrested three people in connection with the assault case involving medical staff at a municipal hospital in Kalyan-Dombivli. However, the main accused and local Shiv Sena Corporator Ramesh Mhatre, who was filmed violently striking a female doctor, is yet to be apprehended.
The incident, caught on camera, has triggered widespread outrage across Maharashtra. The incident came to light after a video went viral showcasing the assault on the medical staff.
Following the assault on medical staff at Kalyan-Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar Hospital on July 6, allegedly by Shiv Sena Corporator Ramesh Mhatre over a patient transfer issue, Maharashtra Police have arrested three people, while Mhatre remains uncaught, prompting a staff strike and hospital closure.
It occurred on July 6 at the Shastri Nagar Hospital when the doctors advised the family of a pregnant woman to seek a transfer. Anticipating the need for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) bed, the medical team suggested moving the patient to another facility for her own safety as all NICU beds fully occupied.
As the hospital asked the pregnant woman to take it to other hospital, the Shiv Sena Corporator and his men lost temper and attacked the medical staff.
The CCTV footage from the hospital captured Mhatre and his supporters punching, slapping, and cornering the medical staff.
The Political Fallout
An FIR has been lodged against Mhatre, but he is missing and the cops are yet to take him into their custody.
The sheer brutality of the video has forced a flurry of damage control from the state government and the ruling Shiv Sena party.
Goondagardi by Shinde Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre in Dombivli-
He slapped a lady doctor and brutally beat nurses following a dispute over the referral of a pregnant woman.
Doctors are on strike for this uncivilized behaviour. pic.twitter.com/vGchLMA1pf
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) July 7, 2026
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam strongly condemned the violence on Wednesday, promising a thorough investigation. “Assaulting doctors is wrong,” Kadam said. “If someone has an issue, they must report to the authorities instead of taking the law into their own hands.”
Meanwhile, local heavyweight and Maharashtra Minister Bharatsheth Gogawale gave a somewhat measured response when pressed by reporters. “Yes, we saw it,” Gogawale said. “Our leader [Chief Minister Eknath Shinde] will take a decision on it. They will determine what happened, how it happened, and why it was done. It should not have been done, that is true.”
Shiv Sena MP Dr. Shrikant Shinde criticized his own party member’s actions.
In a post, he said, “As a doctor myself, I know that patient service is a service to humanity. Doctors, nurses, and health workers labor day and night under extremely adverse conditions,” Shinde wrote in a public post. “The party’s stance is clear: we will not support any individual involved in this attack. Strict disciplinary action will be taken within the party against those found guilty, and no one who takes the law into their own hands will be spared.”
The hospital has since completely shut down. The doctors and medical workers have launched an indefinite strike, refusing to return to work until they are granted adequate security and Mhatre is behind bars.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said that he will be meeting the doctors and called the incident “completely unacceptable”.
VIDEO | Mumbai: On Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) corporator Ramesh Mhatre being accused of assaulting woman doctor, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad says, “Anger arises when doctors have been negligent, havent provided treatment, when a patient is suffering in some way. In anger, some… pic.twitter.com/TRP0DTvx1e
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 8, 2026
However, MLA Sanjay Gaikwad defended Mhatre claiming the assault might have happened “unintentionally”.
“Anger arises when doctors have been negligent, haven’t provided treatment, when a patient is suffering in some way. In anger, some people raise their hands, some file complaints.”
Although he stated that what Mhatre did was wrong, but said that “perhaps in anger it happened unintentionally. Maharashtra’s hospitals are in bad shape; the attitude toward patients is not right.”
