MLAs demand action against ‘cops, Sena men in riot videos’
: Several MLAs from the Muslim community, cutting across party lines, on Tuesday protested against the alleged involvement of Shiv Sena party workers and police personnel in the Aurangabad riots.
These legislators claimed that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis did not meet them despite giving an appointment.
Fadnavis, however, told PTI that the legislators had not sought his appointment in advance, adding that he has asked them to meet him either late on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi; Congress MLAs Amin Patel, Abdul Sattar, Aslam Shaikh, and Asif Shaikh; and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Waris Pathan and Imtiyaz Jaleel were among those who sat on the steps of Mantralaya, the state’s secretariat, in protest.
“We wanted to apprise the CM of the situation in Aurangabad. He had asked us to meet him at 12:30pm. Despite the MLAs coming from different places, we
MUMBAI
were told that he was busy with official work,” SP’s Azmi said.
He added that the MLAs had come with video recordings clearly showing some police officers and Shiva Sena leaders instigating the riots. Azmi demanded that the victims’ families be given ~50 lakh in compensation and those of injured ~1 lakh.
AIMIM’s Jaleel questioned the lack of action against police personnel who could be “seen in the videos instigating the riots”.
“We demand that they be suspended immediately and booked under relevant IPC sections. Action should also be taken against the Shiv Sainiks who were part of the riots,” he said.
Responding to the charges, Fadnavis said, “They (the MLAs) did not inform me that they were coming and I was not in my office when they came.”
Two people were killed and more than 60 injured in clashes between groups of two communities over illegal water connections in Aurangabad on May 11.