Common man pays price for protest

MUMBAI : The common man bore the maximum brunt of the violence that erupted during the Maratha Kranti Morcha agitations across 46 places of the state on Wednesday.

During the agitations, 160 private vehicles were either damaged or set on fire by the rampaging mob. The epicentre of the violence, Navi Mumbai, accounted for the maximum loss of property suffered by ordinary citizens at the hands of the rioting mob. Of the 160 private vehicles damaged

across the state, 150 were from Navi Mumbai alone.

As per the state police’s assessment, till Wednesday midnight

the damages to government/ police property were far lesser. 104 police/government vehicles were damaged, with a majority of them being police vans and patrolling vehicles that were set on fire by protesters.

Police sources told HT that private vehicles parked in designated parking lots and along sides of roads in Kalamboli and Kopar Khairane became easy targets for rioters. 19 public vehicles were also damaged in arson.

“The compilation of the damage figures is still on and the figures are likely to go up,” a senior state police officer said adding, the lists would be sent to the respective district collectors for the recovery of the damages from bandh organisers.