Maharashtra Bandh over Bhima-Koregaon clashes: Shutdown called off; CM Fadnavis ensures inquiry into violence | As it happened on Wednesday
An attempt by protesters to block trains this morning was thwarted by the police at Thane near Mumbai this morning.
The day-long 'Maharashtra bandh' called by various Dalit and other organisations to protest the violence against commemoration of Bhima-Koregaon battle has been withdrawn, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar said today.
He told reporters that nearly 50 per cent of the state's population took part in the shut-down.
Road blockades, arson and stone-pelting incidents were reported in Mumbai and elsewhere during the day. However, Ambedkar, claimed that the bandh was peaceful.
Earlier today, an attempt by protesters to block trains this morning was thwarted by the police at Thane near Mumbai this morning amid a call by Dalit groups for a bandh or shutdown in Maharashtra.
It all began when a group of upper-caste people attacked the Dalits who had gathered at Bhima Koregaon to pay tributes on the occasion of 200th anniversary of a battle between the army of Peshwa Bajirao II and the East India Company. ALSO READ | Maharashtra violence over Bhima-Koregaon clashes: As it happened on Tuesday
Angry Dalits staged rail and road blockades and took out processions in Mumbai and carried out agitations in different parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday to protest against violence in Pune a day ago. Thousands of Dalits took to the streets in Chembur, Mankhurd, Ghatkopar, Bhandup and other strongholds in north-eastern parts of the city demanding action against the perpetrators of the Pune riots.
As it happened:
05:39 pm: Inquiry will be conducted in the incidents of violence that took place across Maharashtra. We are monitoring the CCTV footage of the violence: CM Devendra Fadnavis
04:25 pm: Activist and grandson of BR Ambedkar, Prakash Ambedkar withdraws Maharashtra bandh call
04:03 pm: There has been no death of a person from Dalit community. Wrong messages are being spread on social media, people have to be very cautious. The situation overall is peaceful in Maharashtra: Deepak Kesarkar, MoS, Home Rural
01:51 pm:
01:35 pm: Atrocities are being inflicted on Dalits since the last 3 and a half years, since BJP came to power in the centre: Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress
01:14 pm:
01:05 pm: Remaining services of AC local suspended for the day in view of protests. Other suburban services are being run amid intermittent protests at Elphinstone Rd, Goregaon, Dadar, Malad. There is no cancellation of Long Distance trains
12:55 pm:
12:51 pm:
12:35 pm: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge says "Supreme Court judge should be appointed for inquiry in Bhima Koregaon Violence; PM should also give a statement, he can't stay mum! He is a 'Mauni baba on such issues'"
12:28 pm: Maalikarjun accuses RSS of trying to divide the society bt instigating the violence.
12:27 pm: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge raises the issue of Bhima Koregaon violence in Lok Sabha, asks "who instigated and interfered in this event?"
12:03 pm:
11:56 am: Metro services between Asalfa and Ghatkopar Metro station stopped by protesters
11:43 am: Mumbai: Shops at NM Joshi Marg forcibly being closed by protesters
11:42 am:
11:33 am:
11:11 am: Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) leader and Madhepura MP Pappu Yadav gives adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over Bhima Koregaon violence
10:53 am: DCP Pravin Mundhe says, 'we appeal all citizens to carry on with their daily routine. There will be peace in the city. Don't trust rumours being spread on social media'
10:42 am:
10:40 am:
10:26 am: Protesters halt buses, auto-rickshaws at Lal Bahadur Shastri Road in Thane, also deflate bus tyres
10:21 am: Inter state bus services from Karnataka-Maharashtra temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure
10:12 am: Internet services suspended in Aurangabad, bus operations also affected.
10:06 am: All trains services running normal in Pune division, security in place to maintain the situation" says Divisional Security Commissioner D Vikas
10:05 am:
08:28 am: Section 144 imposed in Maharashtra's Thane till January 4 midnight.
08:24 am: Protesters halt a train at Thane railway station over Bhima-Koregaon violence.
08:05 am: Schools and colleges to remain shut today in Mumbai and Pune.
08:02 am: Pune Police said they had received a complaint against Gujarat MLA and Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani and Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid for their "provocative" speeches at an event on December 31. Mevani and Khalid had attended the "Elgar Parishad", an event organised to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon, at Shaniwar Wada in the city on December 31.
07:59 am: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has condemned the incidents of violence at Bhima-Koregaon village in Pune district and other parts of Maharashtra. Manmohan Vaidya, the Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh of the RSS, in a press statement said, "The recent incidents at Koregaon, Pune and various other places in Maharashtra are very sad and painful.
07:50 am: Congress president Rahul Gandhi called the event to celebrate the Bhima-Koregaon battle as a "potent symbol" of resistance to RSS-BJPs "fascist vision".
07:45 am: Domestic carriers, including the government-owned Air India, have waived charges for ticket cancellations and no-show due to the ongoing unrest in parts of Maharashtra. Air India said it will not charge any fee for cancellation of tickets or rescheduling of a journey to/from Mumbai on January 2 and 3.
07:39 am: Scores of Dalit youth blocked the Harbor Line of Central Railway near Chembur on Tuesday afternoon, leading to stoppage of the local train services for hours.
07:36 am: Several lakhs of commuters were stranded on stations or in stationary trains and many preferred to walk on the railway tracks to their destinations.
07:34 am: Protests and violent incidents were witnessed in other parts of the state, including Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Dhule, Beed, Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Thane and Palghar as Dalits expressed their ire over Monday's incidents in Koregaon-Bhima in Pune district.
07:28 am: At least 25 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, besides private luxury buses and other vehicles, were damaged in stone pelting by riotous mobs.
07:25 am: In the clashes that ensued between the two groups, more than 30 vehicles, including buses, police vans and private vehicles, were torched or damaged and one youth, Rahul Fatangale, 28 of Nanded lost his life.
07:15 am: Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar blamed the state government for "lapses" that resulted in the Monday violence.
07:06 am: Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut hinted at a "big conspiracy" in the recent spurt in sporadic caste-related violence that has been erupting in the state, which needs to be thoroughly investigated and "the hidden hand" must be exposed.