12 Mankhurd residents booked over LPG protest

According to the police, the protest was organised by members and supporters of the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) along with residents, drawing a large gathering at the site

Mumbai: Twelve Mankhurd residents who protested over LPG shortage at Samvidhaan Chowk on March 17 were booked for allegedly holding a protest without permission and disrupting traffic.

The protest was organised by members and supporters of the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) along with residents, drawing a large gathering at the site on March 17.

According to the police, the protest was organised by members and supporters of the Revolutionary Workers Party of India (RWPI) along with residents, drawing a large gathering at the site. Police briefly detained several protesters, including members of RWPI, before registering a case under Sections 135, 33(1), 37(3), 126(2), 223, 221, 190 and 189(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, for unlawful assembly, obstruction of public servants from discharging their duties, and violation of prohibitory orders.

Baban Thoke, the organiser and prime accused, denied the allegations, maintaining that due procedure was followed. “We only need to inform the police, which we did. When the local police did not accept the application, we submitted it to the DCP Zone 6 office. There was no denial,” he said.

Thoke added that the police had issued a notice under Section 168, which, he said, is routinely served to hold organisers accountable in case of any untoward incident. “Most protests take place with such a notice. We have been holding demonstrations at the same spot for the last 10 to 12 years,” he said.

“The conduct of Mankhurd Police on the issue of LPG gas cylinder price rise and black marketing, which is a matter of public interest, is barbaric and repressive against democratic rights, and it will set such a precedent that, in the long term, will legitimize the suppression of democratic rights by the police. Opposing this is the immediate and living task before today’s democratic movement,” he added.

He also questioned the restrictions cited by the police. “Such prohibitory measures are in place for at least six months in a year. If applied arbitrarily, it leaves no room to exercise democratic rights,” Thoke said, terming the police action an excess.

A Senior Official from the DCP office told HT , that the denial of permission for the protest was conveyed in no uncertain terms, as they contravened our orders, we had to file an FIR .