Four go to seek police nod for anti-caa protest, detained

MUMBAI: Four persons, two of them facing rioting cases, were detained on Monday when they along with a group of people went to police to seek permission for holding a protest against the CAA-NRCNPR in Deonar, officials said.

Two of them, identified only as Avinash and Babloo, were immediately released by the Deonar police, they said.

The other two, Baban Sopan Thoke (27) and Sharon Deepak Laljhare (18), face charges of rioting and manhandling onduty police personnel, the officials said. All four were part of a group of people, including women, who went to the police in the afternoon to seek permission for holding a protest against the CAA-NRC-NPR at Atlantic Garden in Deonar on Monday evening, they said.

On Saturday, an FIR was registered against Thoke and Laljhare after they gathered in the evening along with other protesters at Balasaheb

Thackeray Garden in Deonar without permission, and later damaged vehicles and also manhandled on- duty policemen, the officials said.

Nikesh Mayur, one of the persons who was part of the group on Monday, said, "We went with proper documents to take permission but cops start detaining us. "We wanted to protest inside the Atlantic Garden Garden in which a large number of people, including women, were likely to participate from areas like Zakir Hussain Nagar, Saki Nagar and Lallubhai Compound." Mayur denied police claim of protesters damaging vehicles and manhandling police personnel in Deonar on Saturday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone VI, Shashikumar Meena told PTI, "An FIR has already been registered against Baban and Sharon, but we have not arrested them. They have just been detained and will be released later.