MELAULI (SATTARI): Villagers and police clashed at Melauli in Sattari again on Wednesday, with cops resorting to lathicharge and use of tear gas to disperse the protesters who prevented surveyors from demarcating the land for the proposed site of the new IIT-Goa campus.
Ten cops and an equal number of villagers sustained injuries in the clash and were rushed to the community health centre for treatment. While a policewoman was seriously injured, a minor boy was severely affected by the tear gas.
Early on Wednesday, Sattari deputy collector Rajesh Ajgaonkar and his team requested the protesters to move and let the demarcation proceed. They were given 5 minutes to vacate the site.
But the villagers refused to budge and remained lying down at the spot. Police then began using force to move them and resorted to lathicharge and when that also failed, they used tear gas.
As tensions flared, villagers began pelting stones at police forcing the them to beat a hasty retreat. Angry villagers then set ablaze police shields that were left behind some policemen.
The protesting villagers said they were only defending themselves and alleged that the violence broke out because police used brute force.
“The clash started when police started moving forward towards the villagers who were lying on the ground. Valpoi PI Sagar Ekoskar stamped on the chest of a woman,” said villager Unati Melekar.
By afternoon, hundreds of villagers gathered outside the Valpoi police station, demanding that Ekoskar be suspended and FIR filed against him for mistreating a woman.
Co-convener of the Melauli Panchkroshi Gram Bachav Andolan, Shubham Shivolkar, said they have demanded strict action against Ekoskar.
“The chief minister must visit Valpoi and hear us out. Villagers will not move from the main road outside Valpoi police station till our two demands are fulfilled,” he said.
But villagers dispersed late on Wednesday, vowing to resume their protest on Thursday morning. They said they’d continue till their demands are met.
Members of many political parties and NGOs arrived in the village to extend support to the Melauli locals by participating in their protest at Valpoi. Villagers from Dhamshe, a neighbouring village of Melauli, also supported the locals.