Communal riot nipped in the bud at Agripada

Volunteers of a Ganesh mandal were beaten up at Fancy Market near Jhula Maidan when they were collecting donations

Timely intervention by the police prevented a communal flare-up at Agripada in Central Mumbai.

Volunteers of a Ganesh mandal were beaten up at Fancy Market near Jhula Maidan around 1.15 pm on Sunday when they were collecting donations for the festival.

Joint Police Commissioner, Sadanand Date, arrived at the police station at 5.30 pm. Before him, other senior police officers had rushed to the spot to defuse the situation.

Shops in the area were closed in the evening.

The volunteers of the Agripada Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Mandal said they were seeking donation from the shops around Jhula Maidan when some boys playing cricket there objected and this led to an altercation between the two groups.

An injured volunteer, who requested anonymity, alleged that a cloth merchant by name Shafique instigat- ed the boys to bash the volunteers. Three volunteers of the mandal- Sarvesh Salvi (17), Sunil Dongre (28) and Chetan Lad (32)- were injured.

Beat marshal Narendra Wagh also sustained injury on the head and had to be taken to Nair Hospital for treatment.

Wagh, who later came to the police station following treatment, said, “I got a wireless message that there is commotion at Fancy Market. When I reached the market, I saw 150 – 200 people on the street. I tried to intervene and pacify, but someone from the maidan pelted a stone that hit me on the head; immediately I contacted the control room for more force”.

At around 6 in the evening, everything calmed down though the shops were shut around the maidan. Police Inspector Dnaydeo Hire said, “The situation is under control now. Seven police vehicles, including State Reserve Police Force and Rapid Action Force, have been stationed”.