BOMBAY, 19 March 2006 — Tension returned to New Bombay yesterday with mobs blockading police stations and highways, two days after street violence left one person dead and police firing claimed three more lives.
Tension continued to mount at the curfew- clamped town of Ghansoli in New Bombay as many defied the curfew, and a mob of more than 8,000 gathered here yesterday morning, shouting slogans and demanding the arrest and action against the police officials for the firing. The protesters were only baton-charged.
Though the situation was reported to be calm but tense, no untoward incident took place following the release of the dead bodies of the victims of the police firing yesterday.
The Bombay-Pune highway too was blocked by angry mobs, but they too were baton-charged and tear-gassed.
The fresh wave of aggression took place after reports that the police had assaulted a local leader who was allegedly forcing shops and other commercial establishments to down shutters at Nerul Friday evening.
Police, however, claimed the man hurt himself when he tried to jump out of his car to escape.
Shops, schools and commercial establishments stayed closed in New Bombay yesterday. There was heavy police presence around Ghansoli village.
New Bombay Police Commissioner Vijay Kamble said that several people were arrested for trying to block roads.
The opposition members raised the Ghansoli issue in the state assembly.
Woman Stripped in Solapur
A married lower caste Dalit woman stripped in front of her son was paraded naked in the Talegaon village in Solapur district by nine villagers including two women from the liquor lobby last Tuesday. They suspected her of having complained to the police about their activities.
Putting up a brave front to the humiliation, the victim refused to leave the village and said, “I have lost my dignity, but I will fight my war.”
The woman said that she was stripped naked and paraded throughout the town and the accused also beat her son black and blue. “I will continue to fight against those involved in the illegal activities,” she said and added that though she was afraid for her life she would not migrate to another village, for if I do so, that would mean a victory for people involved in the illegal hooch activities in her village. The incident rocked the assembly session.
