Police removed the auto rikshaws left by protesters and resumed the traffic at RTO chowk on Monday. (Express Photo) PUNE City Police have arrested as many 37 office-bearers of auto rickshaw unions and drivers for holding a road blockade at RTO Chowk on Monday and ‘holding common Punekars to ransom.’
Continuing their protest demanding a ban on the bike taxis in Pune, several auto rickshaw organisations had held a road blockade at RTO Chowk on Monday. The road blockade had come even after senior police officers including Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 2) Smartana Patil and Joint Commissioner of Police Sandip Karnik held talks with the office-bearers of the protesting unions on Monday.
“The union office-bearers were told that a committee headed by the District Collector has been formed to look into the demand to ban the bike taxis. In spite of the discussions with the senior police officers, wherein the office-bearers of the rickshaw unions were asked not to hold the blockade and hold citizens to ransom, a road blockade was held at the RTO chowk,” said Senior Inspector Pratap Mankar, in-charge of Bundgarden police station. “Nearly 950 rickshaw drivers illegally parked their autos in front of the RTO office near Sangam Bridge from 9 am in the morning till 8.45 pm in the evening. They blocked the entire road and obstructed the passage of a large number of commuters including school students, government and private company employees. This blockade forced the hospital going patients and ambulances to take a longer route to reach the hospitals. They blocked the entrance-exit of the RTO, thus wrongfully confining them to their premises. A stone was pelted at the people to terrorise them and used criminal force against the police and other government officials doing their duty,” the police statement said.
Mankar said, “As many as 37 persons including union office-bearers and their rickshaw driver members have been arrested in the case. Arrest of more people is likely soon.”
Those placed under arrest by police include Keshav Kshirsagar of Baghtoy Rickshawala Forum, Anand Ankush of Aam Admi Rickshaw Chalak Sanghatana, Sanjay Kawade of Pune Zilla Vahtook Seva Sanghatana, Ashok Salekar of Shivneri Rickshaw Sanghatana, Kishor Chintamani of Maharashtra Navnirman Vahtook Sena, Aziz Shaikh of RPI Vahtook Aghadi, Farukh Bagwale of P Ashirwad Rickshaw, Baba Sayyed AIMIM Rickshaw Saghatana and Shiva Bhignali of Shiva Vahtook Sanghatana.