THANE: The lake city is bracing itself to curb the possible tension on the streets on Wednesday, following a call by Dalit leaders for a state-wide peaceful bandh, after a sense of fear and unease prevailed on Tuesday as protesters hurled stones at TMT buses and staged rasta roko in several pockets here.
The day began on a stormy note after a mob converged at the toll plaza on the
Eastern Express highway and attempted to stall block the road and create a logjam.
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The heavy police presence on the streets, however, managed to clear the protesters from the streets and traffic movement was largely unaffected.
However, as the day progressed and reports of violence and rasta roko in Mumbai and across the state flashed, the leaders and activists of the Dalit community stormed the streets at crucial junctions and pockets to voice solidarity with the agitators outside of Thane who were upset at the death of a
28-year-old Dalit man from Pune district following among the two groups while celebrating the bicentenary of a British-Peshwa
war.
As many as five TMT buses were the target of the protesters ire as they stoned them and brought them to a halt. The auto rickshaw drivers too choose to play it safe as most three-wheelers were off the road for the better part of the day.
The predominant Dalit pockets witnessed a huge mob gathering on the streets and raised a banner of protest in Kopri, Wagle estate, Lokmanya Nagar,
Manpada, Vartak nagar etc. The police had to deploy the State reserve Police force (SRPF) personnels as well as the other staff from the
various wings of the city police.
Commuters on two-wheelers and cars are helping the ones who are stranded, dropping them to nearby junctions in Thane.
Sources informed that there were minor agitations at Cadbury junction as well as Nitin Junction, Uthlasar area along with protest march in
the Manpada area which went of peacefully.
The police has detained around 15-20 people as a precautionery measures ahead of the bandh on Wednesday.
The agitation however triggered confusion among the citizens here especially among the office-goers who were caught unaware of the reality.
Nikhilesh K, a resident of Ghodbunder road said there was inadequate communication from the police authorities on the actual situation on ground whereas social media was flashing the trouble on the streets causing a panic.
Asmith Kandhare, a finance executive said, "I could not find a single rickshaw on the station after coming back to Thane on Tuesday evening.
The public transport service too was overflowing and the rumors were doing rounds. In such condition, with fear in mind, I walked all the way till
Majiwada from the alternate by-lanes."
Meanwhile, all the dalit parties have pledged support to the day-long peaceful bandh on Wednesday.
Bhaiyasaheb Indise, leader of RPI-Ekyawadi said, "All the parties shall participate in bandh and we shall be doing it in a peaceful way. I request all the protesters irrespective of the parties to avoid any kind of violence that will create panic among the citizens."
