Maratha Protest: Violence marks Maratha quota bandh in Maharashtra

Maratha Reservation Protest: The Marathas have been protesting over the demand of 16% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions

Maratha Kranti Morcha protesters pelt stones at police personnel during their statewide bandh, called for reservations in jobs and education, in Navi Mumbai. PTI Photo

Mumbai: The bandh in Maharashtra called by pro-quota Maratha groups was today marked by violence and arson even as one more protester died, a day after consuming poison. In the wake of violence, the bandh in Mumbai was called off midway, despite which some areas continued to witness incidents like stone pelting till late evening. Policemen bore the brunt of the quota stir , as 12 police personnel, including an IPS officer, were injured in violence since yesterday during protests in various parts of the state. Today also protesters threw stones at policemen in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai township and Satara district, injuring three personnel. The police retaliated and cane-charged protesters, fired plastic bullets and lobbed tear gas shells at them, an official said. The agitation was, however, called off only in Mumbai in the afternoon. Protest groups said the agitation will continue in neighbouring Thane and Navi Mumbai regions. Maharashtra shutdown: Here is a look at what happened today

#MumbaiBandh - Stone pelting on police personnel resumes in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. LIVE Coverage: https://t.co/DklVA2kRqn pic.twitter.com/bWNOb5rucr

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) July 25, 2018

#WATCH: Maharashtra police shoots tear gas on #MarathaKrantiMorcha's protesters who were blocking the Mumbai-Pune Highway in Kalamboli over demand for reservation in govt jobs & education,earlier today. The organisation has called off #MumbaiBandh now. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/BjyVnwCgn6

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2018

• We have taken the reservation issue seriously. We are waiting for the court's decision to come. Certain parties are politicizing the issue which they shouldn't: Maharashtra CM Devenra Fadnavis

#MarathaReservationProtest - Agitation called off only in Mumbai. Protest to continue in Thane and Navi Mumbai regions. #MumbaiBandh

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) July 25, 2018

#MumbaiBandh - Vehicles torched and set on fire in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai. Police vehicles also set ablaze. Fire engines forced to return by protesters. Police resort to air firing to disperse agitators. Traffic jam on Sion-Panvel highway. LIVE COVERAGE: https://t.co/DklVA2kRqn pic.twitter.com/GK2sPrODJB

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) July 25, 2018

#MarathaReservationProtest - Maximum violence in Nashik and Ahmednagar

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) July 25, 2018

#MarathaReservationProtest - Agitators set a a BEST bus ablaze in Mankhurd, Mumbai. LIVE Coverage here: https://t.co/DklVA2kRqn pic.twitter.com/TxvoLRKhuL

— ABP News (@abpnewstv) July 25, 2018

• Protest goes violent in Navi Mumbai, protesters torch several vehicles. Tear gas fired by security officials
• NCP Chief Sharad Pawar jumps in, holds meeting of NCP MPs in Delhi
• Clashes break out between two groups in Udgir in Latur district of Maharashtra when one group was forcibly trying to get people to shut shops and overturned a vegetable cart while attempting to enforce Maharashtra bandh. Police is on the spot and situation is contained
• Workers of Maratha Kranti Morcha block a local train in Thane
• Mumbai: A group of Maratha Kranti Morcha workers request with folded hands, the shopkeepers in Bandra to shut their shops
• Tires set ablaze on Majiwada bridge in Thane

 

• We are not blocking any road. We are carrying out a peaceful protest. We have told our workers that there should be no inconvenience to the police or govt due to our protest. We are asking people to shut down their shops: Maratha Kranti Morcha

#MarathaReservation protest: A Thane Municipal Transport(TMT) bus vandalised in Wagle estate area of Thane. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/IzMutlrp4l

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2018

• #MarathaReservation protest enters day 2: Visuals from Thane's Teen Haath Naka. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/3eaOT1ziUi

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2018

The Marathas have been protesting over the demand of 16% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, the matter which is subjudice. Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation, is taking its battle to Mumbai where it has called for the shutdown. Another outfit, the Sakal Maratha Samaj are also actively participating in the protest.

#Maharashtra: Visuals from parts of Mumbai as strike called by Maratha Kranti Morcha enters the second day. pic.twitter.com/xmKqDv1t7Q

— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2018

Satara's Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil sustained a minor injury while two policemen were injured at Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai, he said. Protesters who gathered at Kalamboli blocked the Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Pune highways, he said. The policemen deployed at the spot tried to take them away as the traffic was blocked because of the protest. Some persons in the crowd then started throwing stones at the policemen, injuring two personnel, the official said. Protesters also set afire two police vans in the area, he said. The police then cane-charged the protesters, lobbed tear gas shells at them and also fired plastic bullets in the air, he said. Additional police force was called at the spot, he said, adding that the situation in the area was tense. The traffic movement from Mumbai to Pune and Goa was affected due to the protests at Vashi, Kharghar, Kalamboli and Palaspe, he said. In Satara district, police cane-charged protesters who blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway at Bombay Restaurant Chowk and threw stones at the policemen, SP Sandeep Patil said. Tear gas shells were also lobbed at the pro-quota agitators, said Patil, who was injured in the stone-pelting. A few vehicles were also set afire by the angry protesters in Satara, a police official said. Meanwhile, the local train services on the trans- harbour line (between Thane and Vashi) were affected for over an hour in the afternoon as protesters halted trains at Ghansoli station, he said. In the morning also, the movement of trains was disrupted at Ghansoli, he said. The Mumbai-Goa highway was also blocked near Palaspe at Panvel in Raigad district by protesters. The Sion-Panvel highway was blocked for some time at Kharghar and Vashi, but the police removed protesters from the road, the official said. Some agitators burnt tyres at Majiwada in the neighbouring Thane city and auto-rickshaw drivers staged protests at the Nitin Junction, another official said. In Mumbai, the Western Express Highway witnessed traffic jams due to protests near Jogeshwari flyover and Kandivali. Meanwhile, a man, Jagannath Sonawane (55), who had consumed poison in Aurangabad yesterday when the reservation protest was going on, died in a hospital today. Sonawane committed suicide due to domestic issues, Aurangabad Superintendent of Police Arti Singh claimed, adding that he was not a part of the protest. The Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation for reservation in jobs and education, had today called for the shutdown in Mumbai and some neighbouring districts. (With additional information from PTI)