Mumbai: Resident made 3,000 calls for violations during visarjan, say cops

Major Ganpati mandals like Lalbaugcha Raja and Ganesh Galli fall under the jurisdiction of Kalachowkie police station, for which devotees from across the state land in Parel. (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)

The police control room received nearly 3,000 calls from residents on Sunday, the day of Ganpati visarjan, complaining about several violations in their localities.

“On occasions like these, the number of calls doubles. But on Sunday, apart from managing the crowd and conducting bandobast duty, we had to be on our toes to answer these calls. Several people called throughout the day, complaining about different violations in their area,” said an officer.

Also, 164 cases of mobile thefts during the immersion processions were reported with the Kalachowkie police station. Major Ganpati mandals like Lalbaugcha Raja and Ganesh Galli fall under the jurisdiction of Kalachowkie police station, for which devotees from across the state land in Parel.

An officer said three special desks were set up to attend these complainants.

A senior IPS officer said, “People want to take selfies at a crowded location and when they are pushed, they lose control over their mobiles, which then get lost.”

Kalachowkie police officers said 261 cases of mobile thefts were reported during the 10-day festival. The police said thieves from other states also come to the city to take advantage of crowded mandals.

DCP Manjunath Singhe (spokesperson) said: “From September 13 to 23, on the orders of the Bombay High Court, the Mumbai Police has taken action against several mandals, who violated noise limits. In all, 202 cases have been registered for violating the noise levels and the respective police stations are investigating the cases.”