Maharashtra: Protest over Manipur issue turns violent in Nashik; 10 cops injured

At least 10 police personnel received injuries in stone-pelting after a protest march against the sexual assault on two women in Manipur turned violent at Satana town in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, officials said.

Several persons have been detained in connection with the incident which took place on Saturday evening and the situation has been brought under control, SP Shahaji Umap said. The march was organised by the Eklavya Adivasi Sanghatana, a few other tribal organisations and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi to condemn the incident in Manipur where two women were paraded naked and sexually assaulted by a mob on May 3.

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Thousands of young men, some of them with their torsos bare as a mark of protest, took part in the march, a local police official said. When the march, which started from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar statue, reached near the tehsil office, some participants started a sit-in agitation in front of the Satana police station, demanding that local BJP MLA Dilip Borse accept their memorandum, he said.

The police officials told them the MLA could not accept their memorandum as he was attending the assembly session in Mumbai, he said. There were heated arguments and some of the protesters pelted stones at the police and passing vehicles which forced the police to use “mild lathicharge”, the official said.

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There was tension in the town and shops and other commercial establishments downed their shutters following the incident. “Ten police personnel were injured in the incident and we have taken 21 people, who indulged in stone-pelting, into custody. The incident took place after the protest march. Additional force was called in immediately. The situation is now peaceful,” SP Umap told reporters on Saturday.

(With agency inputs)