New Delhi: Maharashtra legislative assembly member Nitesh Rane and 16 of his supporters were arrested on Thursday for attacking a deputy engineer with mud in Maharashtra. This development comes days after BJP legislator from Indore Akash Vijayvargiya assaulted an official with a cricket bat in Madhya Pradesh.Nitesh – the chief of Swabhiman Sanghatana, an NDA-allied local party – is the son of BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former chief minister Narayan Rane.He and his supporters were held for attacking deputy engineer Prakash Shedekar with mud. The engineer works for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at Kankavli in the coastal Sindhudurg district.Narayan Rane has apologised for his son’s conduct.Nitesh Rane, who is Kankavli’s MLA, accompanied by his supporters, was protesting on the busy Mumbai-Goa highway that passes through the district. They complained that the road had many potholes and was piled with mud.A video clip of the attack went viral on social media. Nitesh Rane and his supporters – including Kankavli municipal council president Samir Nalawade – can be seen tying Shedekar to the railing of a bridge. They then proceed to pour buckets of mud on him.“Every day the locals have to face such mud from the passing vehicles…you also experience it,” Nitesh Rane and Nalawade were heard saying to Shedekar.The MLA and his supporters were booked under IPC sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 342 (wrongful confinement and 120-b (criminal conspiracy). A section of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act was also invoked.When the video resulted in an outrage, Narayan Rane apologised for his son’s misconduct. “I apologise for my son’s act of pouring mud on a government official. The protest (against poor condition of the highway) was for the local people,” the former chief minister told PTI.No decision taken on Akaksh Vijayvargiya yet: BJPRane’s attack comes days after BJP lawmaker Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of senior party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, attacked a civic official in Indore on June 26. He was arrested and spent four days in jail before getting bail. He was welcomed with garlands upon his release.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday disapproved his conduct, but the party on Thursday said it has not taken any decision about the action to be taken against Vijayvargiya. During a BJP parliamentary party meeting, Modi said that arrogance and misbehaviour “cannot be tolerated”.The party’s state disciplinary panel claimed that the matter had not been placed before it yet.Madhya Pradesh BJP chief and Jabalpur MP Rakesh Singh met party leaders in Bhopal, and is likely to submit a report. The party’s parliamentary board will then take a decision.When Singh arrived at the party office in Bhopal on Thursday, reporters asked him if any notice has been issued to the MLA. “No notice has been served. You will be informed in ten minutes,” he said.However, an hour later, he said no decision had been taken. “BJP follows a procedure. You will be informed accordingly,” Singh said.Note: An earlier version of the story incorrectly mentioned Nitesh Rane as an MLA of Congress party.