Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will lead a delegation of the family members of police personnel to meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis here tomorrow.
The chief minister, who holds the Home portfolio, will be apprised of the problems being faced by the kin of cops, against the backdrop of growing incidents of attack on the men in khaki while discharging their duty.
"Mumbai police officers and their family members met Uddhav ji at his home and requested him that government take serious cognisance of the problems they are facing," Thackeray stated in a release.
"It has thus been decided that Uddhav ji, along with police officials will meet the CM on September 7 and carve out a solution to their problems," it stated.
The issue of safety of policemen has come on the anvil following the fatal attack on Traffic Police constable Vilas Shinde in suburban Khar last month, allegedly by an unruly biker. Shinde succumbed to head injuries last week at Lilavati Hospital.
Fadnavis has been facing flak over "deteriorating" law and order situation in Maharashtra, with its ally Shiv Sena demanding a dedicated minister to handle the sensitive portfolio.
Fadnavis, who visited Shinde's residence at BDD chawl in Worli recently, faced angry reactions from the family members of the policemen who wanted him to do something to protect lives of police personnel while discharging duty.
Last week, a delegation of family members of policemen called on Thackeray at 'Matoshree', his residence in suburban Bandra, to apprise him of the problems being faced by them and the men in Khaki.
During the budget session in March, Fadnavis had informed the Legislative Assembly that a total of 202 cases of assault on policemen were registered in 2014 and 284 in 2015.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) K P Bakshi had told reporters last month that "compared to Maharashtra, many smaller states have more number of policemen for population of per lakh. However, in Maharashtra that ratio has come down to 120 policemen per lakh from 162, due to freeze on new recruitment in the police force."
This year alone, there have been three major cases of attack on policemen in the state.
In February, a mob attacked police personnel at Pangaon in Latur. In the same month, a Sena activist from Thane was arrested for allegedly thrashing a woman traffic constable after she pulled him up for talking over phone while driving his SUV.
In the latest incident on August 23, Shinde was hit on head allegedly by one of the two youths, following argument over not wearing helmet.
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