Opp. corners Patil over police firing in Mawal
Members of the Bharat Kisan Sanghatana block the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Mawal on Tuesday
A day after home minister R.R. Patil said on the floor of the state legislative Assembly that there are very few incidents of people being killed in police firing in Maharashtra, he was made to eat humble pie on Tuesday, with four farmers dying when the police opened fire at them.
On Monday, Mr Patil defended the police’s firing in Nagpur’s Mohad on August 5, when a bystander was killed. Mr Patil even promised a judicial inquiry into the incident. However, he was left quite red-faced after the police opened fire at a mob of agitating Bharat Kisan Sanghatana (BKS) workesr who were opposing the work of laying a pipeline. Four farmers, including a woman, were killed, and many others, including policemen, were injured.
On Tuesday, the proceedings opened with local MLA Bala Begade informing the House that there was a case of police firing in his constituency and at least one woman was reported killed. Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse and BJP state president Sudhir Mungantiwar demanded thta the home minister immediately make a statement or the House be adjourned till he did. After a five-minute adjournment, Mr Patil said he had spoken to the superintendent of police. There had indeed been some firing after the mob turned violent and damaged several public and police vehicles, but he had no information about any deaths due to the firing, and sought an hour’s time for updates from senior officers at the spot.
However, the Opposition was in no mood to compromise, even though deputy speaker Vasant Purkhe insisted that the work of the House continue till the minister got the information. In a situation when farmers were facing “police atrocity”, no other issue was more important, Opposition MLA’s said. As the chaos continued, the Speaker was forced to adjourn the House for the day, suspending all work.
The agitating BKS, a BJP-sponsored association of farmers, has been opposing the pipelines that run around and beneath the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and supply potable water to Pimperi-Chinchwad. On Tuesday, the BKS had called for an agitation demanding stoppage of work of laying the pipeline near the Expressway. The mob blocked the highway, flattened tyres, burnt a police jeep and another vehicle,
and pelted stones at the police. “We had intelligence that the agitation would become violent and hence called for a heavy bandobast,” Mr Patil said later.
When an additional SP and an inspector were injured, the police was forced to open fire, Mr Patil explained. However, he remained steadfast in maintaining that the state had a very low rate of people losing lives in police firing as compared to other states.
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