Mumbai Police launch hunt after woman vandalises Deputy CM Fadnavis' Mantralaya office

Screengrab of viral video

A woman, on September 26 (Thursday), vandalised Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' office in Mantralaya. A video of the incident has been going viral on the internet. As seen in the viral video, the woman damaged a nameplate bearing the Deputy CM's name. The woman, clad in a green shirt, was seen picking it and smashing it against the floor outside his office at least thrice before she walked away.

She is learnt to have entered Mantralaya from the officer's entrance where the official entry pass is not needed. The police were searching for her, based on the CCTV footage of her act that was accompanied by sloganeering.

The breach happened even when the state headquarters had strict security measures that involved entry only for verified persons. The visitors are required to submit their identity credentials for a database that can be mined anytime for further investigation.

On Wednesday, activists of a socio-political organisation had entered the Akashwani MLA hostel which is next to Mantralaya. They protested there for a long time before the CM promised them a resolution for their demands.

Police identify the woman who vandalised Deputy CM's office

The police in a later update stated that they had identified the woman but had not registered a case against her since she is not in a mentally sound state. DCP Pravin Munde (Zone 1) shared details about the incident at Mantralaya.

The police said that the woman, identified as Dhanashree Sahasrabuddhe, entered the Mantrayala on September 26 without a pass and had vandalised the nameplate of Deputy Chief Minister Devandra Fadnavis. The officials said that she is a resident of Shivaji Park and that one team has been deployed near her residence.

Under Section 22 (Act of a person of unsound mind) of the BNS Act, if a person is mentally ill, no criminal cases are filed for such crimes committed by them.