Govt to form SIT to probe Beed violence

The state government of Maharashtra will form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe recent violence in Beed district during a protest for Maratha reservation. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that 101 accused are still at large. Opposition members blamed the violence on intelligence failure and police inaction, demanding a judicial probe. Fadnavis stated that criminals were involved in the violence and denied claims of innocence for those booked. He also stated that the SIT will be formed within two days.

Nagpur: The state government will constitute a special investigation team (SIT) within two days to probe the recent violence in Beed district on the sidelines of a protest demanding reservation for Marathas. The decision was announced in the state legislature on Friday by deputy chief minister and home minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said that criminals were involved in the violence and 101 accused were still at large.

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Violence had erupted in Beed and Majalgaon tehsil of Beed district on October 29, days after Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil started the second phase of his indefinite strike in Jalna. Houses and offices of political leaders from several parties were set on fire, and the houses of NCP MLAs Prakash Solanke (Ajit Pawar faction) and Sandeep Kshirsagar (Sharad Pawar faction) were burnt to ashes.

The issue was raised in the legislature on Friday by opposition members, who blamed the violence on intelligence failure and police inaction. Sandeep Kshirsagar said that when his house was being burned down by miscreants, the police remained mute spectators. They did not take adequate action despite his family being under threat, he said, demanding a judicial probe into the violence.

NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) state chief Jayant Patil alleged that though the police had intelligence inputs about possible violence in Beed, no steps were taken to address the situation. He said police inaction even when elected representatives were being attacked proved the helplessness of the police and demanded a probe by an SIT.

Fadnavis, while responding to their questions and statements, said that many criminals were active in the violence. “There are 278 accused in the violence in Majalgaon, among whom 30 are hardened criminals, and 40 are still absconding. 61 of the accused in Beed are also at large,” he said, adding that the accused were booked based on proof acquired from CCTV footage as well as information received from other accused. “It is not true that innocent people have been booked,” he said.

Fadnavis also rejected the claim on intelligence failure and police inaction, saying police personnel could not act aggressively as they were less in number compared to the violent mob. “There were over 5,000 miscreants in Beed, and over 1,500 miscreants in Majalgaon when the violence erupted. Since the probe by police officers was already underway, we were averse to forming an SIT. But since the members of the house are insisting, it will be constituted within two days,” he said.