Mumbai police registered 7 new FIRs against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols during the Jan Ashirwad Yatra of Union Minister Narayan Rane in different parts of Mumbai.
Yesterday, police had filed 17 new FIRs against BJP's rally in Mumbai for flouting COVID-19 norms. Till Friday, 19 FIRs were registered against the BJP leaders and workers in different police stations of Mumbai and with the new cases being filed the total number of FIRs registered has risen to 36.
These 17 FIRs were registered in Mulund, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Pant Nagar, Khar, Santacruz, Powai, MIDC, Saki Naka, Meghwadi, Goregaon, Charkop, Borivali and MHB police stations in Mumbai.
Rane on Thursday began his Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Mumbai despite the restrictions from the Mumbai Police. Many opposition leaders objected to the rally in view of the ongoing pandemic in the state.
Earlier on Friday, Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Bhai Jagtap had slammed BJP for disregarding the pandemic situation in the state and holding the rally. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde had also refuted BJP's claims of the Maharashtra government targetting their party and asserted that Covid-19 guidelines must be followed by all the people irrespective of their political background.
Rane himself on Friday condemned the Maharashtra government for its failure to tackle the pandemic situation in the state and said he would continue his rally despite FIRs fired against his yatra.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 4,575 new coronavirus cases and 145 deaths on Saturday while 5,914 patients recovered from the viral infection, a health department official said.
The state's COVID-19 caseload thus rose to 64,20,510, while the death toll increased to 1,35,817, he said.
Nandurbar district in north Maharashtra did not record a single active COVID-19 case for the sixth day in a row.
As many as 5,914 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the recovery count to 62,27,219.
There are 53,967 active cases in the state at present.
Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 96.99 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.11 per cent.
As many as 2,02,452 coronavirus tests were conducted across the state in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall test count to 5,21,24,250.
Solapur district reported the highest 638 new infections, followed by Satara at 591 infections. Satara district also recorded the highest 51 deaths since Friday evening.
Of the eight administrative regions of Maharashtra, Pune region reported the highest 2,177 new COVID-19 cases, almost half of the total cases recorded in the state during the day.
Kolhapur region reported 766 new cases, Nashik region 716 cases, Mumbai 654, Latur 206, Aurangabad 20, Akola 27 and the Nagpur region reported nine cases.
Of 145 deaths reported during the day, the highest 76 fatalities were from the Pune region, followed by 26 in Kolhapur and 15 in the Mumbai region. Nashik and Latur regions reported 13 and 10 deaths.
Akola and Aurangabad regions reported three and two deaths, while no death was reported in the Nagpur division.
Mumbai city witnessed 262 new cases and five deaths, while Pune city reported 538 infections and ten fatalities.
Of 53,967 patients under treatment, Pune district accounts for the highest 12,502.
Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 64,20,510, New cases 4,575, Death toll 1,35,817, Total recoveries 62,27,219, Active cases 53,967, Total tests conducted so far 5,21,24,250.
(With inputs from agencies)
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