Maha CM Shinde Directs ADGP To Probe Jalna Lathicharge As SP Sent On Compulsory Leave, 2 Other Officers Transferred
Shinde stated that ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Saxena will investigate the lathi-charge event, and that a judicial investigation would be launched if necessary.
Tushar Doshi, the superintendent of police in Jalna, was placed on mandatory leave by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday, two days after demonstrators seeking Maratha quotas were baton-charged, sparking violence, news agency PTI reported. Shinde stated that ADGP (law and order) Sanjay Saxena will investigate the lathi-charge event, and that a judicial investigation would be launched if necessary. Shinde announced the transfer of two DYSP-rank officials out of Jalna district while speaking at a state ceremony in Buldhana, around 450 km from Mumbai.
On Friday, police used baton charges and tear gas shells to disperse a rowdy mob in Antarwali Sarathi hamlet in Jalna district after demonstrators allegedly refused to let officials transfer a man on hunger strike for Maratha quota to hospital.
Several people, including 40 police officers, were injured and more than 15 ST buses were set fire in the ensuing rioting.
“Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Saxena will probe the lathi-charge incident. If required, we will also conduct a judicial probe. Guilty will not be spared,” Shinde was quoted by PTI in its report.
Many opposition figures denounced the police conduct, and a call was made for state Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis to resign.
Shinde claims that because he was born into a typical Maratha household, he understands the community's anguish.
He told the audience that the state administration is working hard to provide Marathas with legal reservations.
Former chief ministers Ashok Chavan (Congress) and Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT) were also chastised by Shinde.
"Chavan was the chairman of the sub-committee on Maratha reservation. What did he exactly do during the two-and-a-half years as the chairman of the sub-committee? Shinde questioned.
Without identifying his predecessor Thackeray, who served as chief minister from November 2019 to June 2022, Shinde stated that people who mocked Maratha morchas are now challenging us (the Shiv Sena-BJP administration).
Speaking about the Jalna incident, the chief minister stated that information regarding who began flinging stones during the peaceful Maratha demonstration is being released.
"We will also come to know who is reaping political benefits out of such protest," he said.
Shinde stated that a meeting was conducted with Manoj Jarande-Patil, who was on hunger strike in Antarwali Sarathi hamlet seeking Maratha quota, and that he was asked to end his fast.
"I had asked him to withdraw the hunger strike. We were going to take some decisions in this regard but violence erupted in Jalna,” he said.
Shinde remembers Marathas exercising restraint when lakhs of people marched for quota in Maharashtra (during Devendra Fadnavis's tenure as chief minister, 2014-19).
"Again, I am appealing to them to not resort to violence," he added.
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