MUMBAI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan was shot at his residence by his younger brother on Saturday morning and was said to be in critical condition after four-hour long surgery at Hinduja hospital here.
"His condition is serious. The mid-abdominal portion, including the liver and pancreas, was severely damaged and the bleeding has not yet been controlled. Our first priority is to stop the bleeding," hospital sources said. The condition is further complicated by the fact that Mahajan suffers from diabetes, they added
Mahajan was seriously injured when his younger brother Pravin pumped several bullets into his chest at his 14th floor apartment at Worli around 8 am after a heated argument between the two.
The BJP leader's wife and some other family member witnessed the shocking incident after which a doctor living in the same apartmnet complex rushed him to the Hinduja hospital where he was immediately operated upon by a team of surgeons.
According to Dr S Bhattacharya, a surgeon who operated upon Mahajan, four bullets have 'shattered' Mahajan's liver, pancreas, intestines and the IVC, a key pipeline of blood leading to heart.
"We are fighting a death battle," Bhattacharya told a television channel. Mahajan has lost a fair amount of blood and has been given 40 bottles of blood, the doctor said.
After the surgery, Mahajan was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit with doctors emphasising that the next 48 hours would be critical.
According to sources, the incident was a fallout of more than a decade-old dispute over family property. Purna Building is home to several powerful politicians from the state. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh also has his residence in the building.
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