Maratha Quota Stir: Shutdown ends with violence in many parts of the state

Despite appeals by the organisers the Marathasponsored Maharashtra shutdown turned violent in many parts of the state with incidents of arson road blocks and clashes with police before it ended on Thursday evening officials saidThough the shutdown got on to a peaceful start in the morning within hours there were many incidents of violence especially in Pune district A dozen public and private vehicles were damaged in other parts of the state The Maratha Kranti Morcha and Sakala Maratha Samaj had issued a code of conduct to the supporters to ensure a violencefree shutdown but it remained on paperIn Mumbai Thane and Navi Mumbai only token protests were held the suburban trains services on the Western Railway Central Railway and Metro Railway operated normally and traffic was unhindered Attempts were made to block the railways in Nagpur Pune and Nanded The Umri railway station was attacked and damaged leading to delays or cancellations of several longdistance trains on various routesAs a precaution the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corp MSRTC suspended its services in most parts of the state to avoid being targetted by activists Lakhs of travellers in rural areas were badly hit There were road blocks on the MumbaiPune Expressway MumbaiGoa Highway MumbaiNashik Highway and the old MumbaiPune Highway which remained practically trafficfree due to the shutdownMaharashtra bandh organised on Thursday was peaceful as heavy security was deployed and buses trains were running on time The daylong shutdown called by Maratha groups demanding reservation in government jobs and education was quite peaceful with heavy police deployment put in place PicSayeed Sameer AbediIn Pune protestors staged a sitin outside the Baramati Pune district home of Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar and in Latur Congress legislator Triambak Bhises vehicle was stoned and he was roughed up before the security officials came to his rescueActivists climbed on the walls of the Pune Collectorate building induled in stonepelting and attempted to stop mediapersons from reporting the protests Internet services were snapped as a precaution in Navi Mumbai and several districts like Pune Kolhapur Sangli Aurangabad Osmanabad Yavatmal and AhmednagarIn Latur Sholapur Jalna Hingoli and Ahmednagar tyres were burnt on roads In Kolhapur Palghar and several other places roads were blocked while most districts like Pune Ahmednagar Washim Dhule Buldhana Nanded Akola Parbhani witnessed near total shutdownMaharashtra bandh organised by Maratha groups largely remained peaceful with some cases of violence taking place across the state PicSayyed Sameer AbediAlthough Nashik city remained normal the situation elsewhere in the district was different with roadblocks processions and sitins Similar agitations were reported in Nagpur where activists performed prayers to a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj In Yavatmal a bike rally was taken out and a bullock cart procession hit the roads in NandedA group of activists went to the Aurangabad MIDC and indulged in stonepelting at several companies Police responded by firing in the airIn Mumbai Shiv Sena legislator Prakash Ambitkar attempted to enter the Maharashtra legislature building but was prevented by the security and he sat on a dharna opposite the gates In Sindhudurg district Marathas staged a jailbharo agitation in all subdistricts They were later let offThough exempt from the shutdown many schools and colleges in the state remained shut as students and teachers could not reach on time owing to the agitation The shutdown was called off at 5 pm in some places by singing the National AnthemAlso Read Maratha Bandh Called Off In Mumbai And ThaneCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever