PUNE: Shops in some parts of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad were shut for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon, but the city remained peaceful during the Maharashtra bandh called by the Maratha Seva Sangh and Maratha Kranti Morcha.
A man was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the
stone pelting at Baramati near Pune.
Joint police commissioner Ravindra Kadam told TOI, "The community's members conducted corner meetings in the city and carried out morchas or rallies on a few roads. They did not force owners to shut their shops. The police did not record any untoward incident in the city," Kadam said.
All police stations were on alert and patrolling was enhanced in the city. A strong bandobast was enforced, Kadam added.
The meetings were organized at Alka Talkies chowk, old parts of the city, Babasaheb Ambedkar chowk in Pimpri and other areas. The members paid tribute to Kakasaheb Shinde who jumped into the waters of the
Godavari river in Aurangabad on Monday seeking reservation for the community. A rally was organized in the afternoon from Mitra Mandal Chowk to Deccan.
In Pimpri, the protesters appealed to the traders to shut their shops to support them. Additional superintendent of police (Baramati) Sandeep Pakhale told TOI that a meeting organized by the community in Baramati turned violent on Tuesday afternoon.
A man was injured in the stone pelting on government and private vehicles. "We will register an offence of rioting against the members of two different communities," he said. Three buses and some police vans parked near Baramati state transport bus stand were damaged.
According to Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Pune, the agitators blocked the Pune-Satara section of the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway at Sarola, some 40km from Pune, for 30 minutes. Protesters also staged a rasta roko on the Pune-Solapur highway at Indapur for half an hour.
People shut shops as protesters hit the streets (Left), Many passengers were stranded as bus services were hit (Right)
