Mumbai, June 28: Nitin Jadhav, a union leader who has been spearheading protests against privatising Mumbai and Delhi airports, was last night attacked by two men as he waited at a dispensary for an appointment with his family doctor.

The attack came even as the bidding process for the privatisation reached its crucial last phase and the union leader’s aides alleged that it was an attempt to intimidate those opposed to the sell-off.

Jadhav, the joint secretary of the Airport Authority Employees Union, was waiting at the dispensary in Vakola, a few kilometres from Santa Cruz airport, when two men barged in with choppers around 7.30 pm. The union leader, who suffered fractures on his hand and two cuts on the left side of his head, was admitted to Hinduja hospital where he was operated on today. He is out of danger.

Santosh Sakunde, who was with Jadhav at the time of the assault, said the Mumbai airport union leader “has no personal enmity” in the trade union circle. “We suspect this attack could be connected with privatisation, which is at a crucial stage.”

Sakunde was speaking on a cellphone when the attack took place. “I rushed after the attackers and managed to catch one of them. (Now) It is up to the police to find out who is behind the attack,” he said.

Deputy commissioner of police, Zone VIII, Shashikant Shinde, who met Jadhav at the hospital late last night, said: “The attacker was thrashed by the public. Further investigations are on.”

Asked if he suspected that Jadhav’s campaign against privatisation of the airports could be a reason, Shinde said: “We will not rule out any possibility at this stage.”

June 24 was the last date for submitting bids for both Delhi and Mumbai airports, but the empowered group of ministers postponed the deadline by a fortnight.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the transaction document needed to be redrafted and cleared by the law ministry before it is circulated among the bidders. It would take another eight weeks to examine the technical aspects of the bids and finalise the bidders’ list, sources said.

Anil Ambani’s newly christened ADA Enterprise, Bharti, Essel, L&T, the GMR Group, Macquire Bank and the GVK Group have bid for the two airports. Two others, Videocon and DLF, have dropped out of the list of nine original bidders.

According to civil aviation ministry figures, modernising the Delhi and Mumbai airports is expected to cost around Rs 8,700 crore and Rs 6,400 crore, respectively.

The union has been lobbying the Centre to accept its alternative plan for modernising the two airports. The plan includes harnessing internal funds, relying on phased capital expenditure and use of equity funding.