Two people have been killed and several injured after violence broke out across Maharashtra following clashes on 1 January at an event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon near Pune. FIRs have been registered now against Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani and JNU scholar Umar Khalid for allegedly inciting communal hatred.
Right wing leaders Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide were slapped with FIRs, too, but they are yet to be arrested. Meanwhile, reports of sporadic violence and road roko protests are popping up from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
- Protests intensify in Gujarat, violence reported from Madhya Pradesh
- FIRs registered against Jignesh Mevani and Umar Khalid for allegedly inciting hatred
- Maharashtra CM Fadnavis assures an inquiry into the violence
- 16 FIRs registered in Maharashtra for violence, 300 detained
- Milind Ekbote and Shambaji Bhide, both right-wing leaders, have been booked under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, but are yet to be arrested
286 BEST Buses Damaged So Far in Violence
286 BEST buses have been damaged so far in stone pelting incidents during Bhima Koregaon violence.
The total approximate damage cost is Rs 20,51,760, reported ANI.
Ambedkar Meets Maharashtra CM
Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday said the Maharashtra government has agreed to initiate action against those who instigated caste violence in Pune district.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has agreed to initiate action against those responsible for the 1 January violence at Bhima-Koregaon village near Pune that led to the death of one person and damage to property.
A discussion has been held with the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court to recommend a panel of judges. One of the judges will head the inquiry commission.Prakash Ambedkar
The panel will have powers to recommend penal action.
"I do not know whether the state is going to arrest Sambhaji Bhidem or not," he said, referring to the right-wing leader, who among others, has been blamed for the caste unrest.
Violence in Madhya Pradesh: Buses Attacked, Driver Injured
A bandh called in Burhanpur town in Madhya Pradesh to protest Bhima Koregaon caste clashes in Maharashtra's Pune district took a violent turn on Thursday with a mob allegedly damaging 12 vehicles and stoning trucks plying on Ichhapur-Indore state highway.
Burhanpur district shares common border with Jalgaon, Amravati, Buldhana, and Akola districts of Maharashtra which witnessed protests during the bandh on Wednesday.
A senior police official said the windowpanes of 11 private buses parked at the inter-state bus stand and the windshield of a truck were broken by unidentified persons in the noon.
ANI reports incidents of Bhima Koregaon violence spreading to Madhya Pradesh. At the Pushpak Bus Stand in Burhanpur, MP, 12 buses were vandalised. A bus driver who was injured has been hospitalised.
Eye witnesses said that the mob attempted to torch a bus but was chased away by police personnel present at the spot. They said stones were hurled at at least six trucks on Ichchhapur-Indore state highway as a result of which traffic came to a standstill briefly.
However, Superintendent of Police Pankaj Shrivastava denied that any attempt was made to set any bus on fire.
Road Roko Protests Intensify in Gujarat, Buses Shifted for Safekeeping
ANI reports that protesters waving Ambedkarite flags blocked Madhuram Bypass road in Junagadh. Traffic has taken a hit with jams in areas leading in and out of Junagadh.
Buses at the Junagadh depot have been shifted to a division workshop to prevent damage, in the wake of protests spreading to Gujarat.
Protesters burned tyres on the Chansma-Radhanpur highway on 3 January. Bus services in many parts of Saurashtra were halted on the night of 3 January.
Earlier in the day, protesters also carried out “road roko” protests blocking off the Rajkot-Somnath National Highway near Junagadh.