Violence-hit Navi Mumbai still under curfew

Curfew continued in some parts of trouble-torn Navi Mumbai on Sunday even though no fresh incidents of violence were reported since Saturday evening.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil who also the state home minister, met representatives of the residents of Ghansoli village and Mathadi workers (porters) on Saturday, and asked them to resolve the matter through discussions.

According to sources, the two groups have assured the government that they would ask members of their communities to stop the violence. Curfew was re-imposed in Koparkhaine area on Saturday. Dozens of policemen and riot police were still seen patrolling the streets and asking people to remain indoors.

Local political leaders on Sunday said that they would request the Deputy CM to lift the curfew as the situation was improving in the area. "Yesterday the curfew was clamped in Navi Mumbai. But in other places, normalcy has returned and people are calm. We are going to request R R Patil to remove the curfew even from the area," said Namdev Bhagat, president of the Navi Mumbai Congress Committee.

Police arrested about two hundred protesters who were trying to whip up violence outside state excise minister Ganesh Naik's residence at Bonkawade village. To prevent untoward incidents from happening, orders prohibiting assembly of persons have been imposed in Koparkhairane police Chowky, Bonkawade village and Gulab Dairy precincts.

Earlier, a violent crowd on Friday stormed the Nerul police station and attacked three policemen. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has transferred Police Inspector Shamsher Pathan, who allegedly ordered firing on clashing groups at Ghansoli on March 16, and has ordered a probe into the incident.

The Revenue Commissioner has been deputed to conduct the probe, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil informed the reporters after a meeting at the secretariat. Tension prevailed in Ghansoli village of Navi Mumbai, about 60 kilometers from here after three persons were killed and dozens injured allegedly in police firing to control an agitating mob on Thursday.

According to reports, the agitation began after a group of drunken city boys had misbehaved with a girl from the village during celebrations of Holi, enraging the villagers. The Ghansoli residents allege the Navi Mumbai men then attacked their village in the wee hours of the morning, breaking homes and setting afire vehicles, which forced them to retaliate.

More than two-dozen people, including three cops, were injured in the ensuing violence between the Mathadi (porter) workers and Agari community.

Police sources said the violence had taken the shape of a conflict between natives and outsiders. Villagers whose land had been acquired by government to set up Navi Mumbai township were at loggerheads with Mathadi workers for allegedly depriving employment opportunities to locals, they added.

The government has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh for those injured in the riots.