Announcement of closure in many places. (places) 

Mumbai: The ongoing protest for Maratha reservation in Jalna district of Central Maharashtra turned violent on Friday. According to the information received, the protesters pelted stones. After this, at least a dozen police officers were injured. (places)  To disperse the crowd, the police lathi-charged the crowd and fired tear gas shells at Antarwali Sarathi village on the Dhule-Solapur road.

After this, people’s anger and demonstrations are continuously increasing. In Sambhaji Nagar also late night, people set fire to the buses parked at the bus stand. At the same time, bandh has been announced in Jalna and Beed. Jalna Aurangabad Highway has been completely closed. People have started burning tires on the highway.

Villagers also claimed that the police fired a few rounds in the air, but officials did not confirm this. Many vehicles including state transport buses were set on fire and vandalized by the mob. Let us tell you that the protesters under the leadership of Manoj Jarange were on hunger strike in the village since Tuesday demanding reservation for the Maratha community.

CM appeals to maintain peace
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde appealed to people to maintain peace and announced that a committee would be formed to investigate the violence at a high level. CM said, ‘The incident of lathicharge on protesters during the ongoing protest for Maratha reservation is very unfortunate. Have inquired about the incident from the Collector and the Superintendent of Police and have ordered an inquiry.” Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the police were forced to lathicharge due to stone pelting.

It may be noted that the reservation provided by the state government for the politically influential Maratha community was earlier quashed by the Supreme Court. Officials said the chief minister had spoken to the protesters on Wednesday and urged them to end the hunger strike, but they refused to back down. On Thursday, shops and other commercial establishments remained closed in Wadigodri village of Ambad tehsil, while a massive protest was held in Shahgarh earlier in the week. Officials said that additional police force has been sent to Jalna.

opposition attacker
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress condemned the police lathicharge on the protesters. NCP working president Supriya Sule asked whether there is democracy or autocracy in Maharashtra. He told reporters, ‘The way the police mercilessly thrashed the youth, it is shocking. It should be investigated. Targeting the Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Baramati MP said that this is the failure of his department.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar accused the government of using lathis to crush the protest. He said, ‘We condemn this government-sponsored act. He should apologize to the Maratha community and immediate action should be taken against the police officers who ordered the lathicharge. He said written assurance should be given to the Maratha community as to what concrete steps the government is taking to provide reservation.