Violence erupts in Maharashtra during Maratha quota agitation

Jalna, Sep 1: A protest for Maratha reservation in the Jalna district of central Maharashtra turned violent on Friday leading to several people including 38 police personnel getting injured, officials said.
Police used baton-charge and fired teargas shells to disperse a violent mob at Antarwali Sarathi village on Dhule-Solapur road in Ambad tehsil. Villagers also claimed that police fired some rounds in the air, but officials did not confirm it.
The protesters, led by Manoj Jarange, had been staging a hunger strike demanding reservation for the Maratha community at the village since Tuesday. The trouble began when police tried to shift Jarange to hospital on doctors’ advice, officials said.
While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde made an appeal for peace and announced that a committee will be set up for a high-level probe into the violence, deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the police were forced to use baton-charge due to stone pelting.
The reservation provided by the state government for the politically dominant Maratha community was quashed by the Supreme Court earlier.
The agitation turned violent on Friday as some persons targeted state transport buses and private vehicles, police said.
While Fadnavis put the number of injured policemen at 12, Jalna district Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi said late at night that 32 police personnel and six officials were injured in stone pelting.
Those who suffered serious injuries were under treatment at Jalna Civil Hospital, he said.
Among the injured, there were two Deputy Superintendents of Police and five women police personnel, he said.
“The vehicle of Chandanzira police station was set ablaze. Private vehicles of policemen were also burnt. According to primary report, fifteen state transport buses were set on fire,” Doshi said.
A State Reserve Police Force company and police personnel from nearby districts are deployed in the area to maintain peace, he said.
At least 20 protesters were injured in baton-charge, police sources said.
The chief minister had spoken to the protesters on Wednesday, urging them to end the hunger strike, but they refused to relent, officials said. (PTI)