MUMBAI: A dispute allegedly linked to a BMC contract tender turned violent in Matunga on Monday, with two separate complaints registered after a civil contractor and a vegetable vendor were injured in knife attacks near the rear gate of the BMC F-North Ward office.According to the complaints, the incident occurred near Pioneer Hall on Telang Road, Matunga East outside BMC office shortly after civil contractor Bhairu Singh, 43, visited the BMC office to enquire about a tender for construction of ladi and koba works in slum areas under the F-North Ward.Singh told police that he had submitted an online tender for the work about a week earlier. A day before the incident, he allegedly received a threatening call from an unidentified person questioning him about why he had taken the Matunga BMC contract.On Monday, after making enquiries with officials at the ward office, Singh said that he coming out when he was approached by four unidentified men near the rear gate. After confirming his identity, two of them allegedly assaulted him. Singh alleged that one man wearing a red T-shirt stabbed him on the right side of his abdomen with a knife, while another allegedly struck his left hand with a beer bottle, causing injuries to his fingers.Singh further told police that he had carried a knife for self-protection after receiving the previous day’s threat. When the assailants allegedly attacked him, he took out the knife, following which some of them fled.Singh allegedly chased him and, after the man slipped and fell, stabbed him in the left leg. Police reached the spot and seized the knives involved in the incident. Singh was subsequently taken to Sion Hospital for treatment.In a separate Fir was registered following the same incident, 30-year-old Ashish Yadav, a vegetable vendor from Vikhroli East, alleged that he was injured while attempting to intervene in the altercation.Yadav alleged that one of the men, wearing a white shirt, suddenly pulled out a knife from behind his trousers and raised it towards the persons involved in the fight. When Yadav tried to run away, the man allegedly chased him with the knife. Yadav slipped and fell, and the knife blow allegedly struck his left leg, causing a serious injury.Yadav was subsequently taken to Sion Hospital by an acquaintance on a motorcycle.Police have registered two separate cases based on the complaints and are investigating the circumstances leading to the confrontation. Investigators are also attempting to identify the unidentified persons through witness accounts and other available evidence.The complaints indicate that the two injured persons have given different descriptions of the alleged attackers and have told police that they would be able to identify them if they encountered them again.The police are also probing Singh’s allegation that the assault was connected to the BMC tender and the threatening phone call he allegedly received a day before the incident
