Security beefed up for CM, ministers, ADG rushed to Beed

Mumbai CM Eknath Shinde has increased security for ministers and their properties in Mumbai due to fears of backlash from Maratha protestors. 85 arrests have been made in the violence-hit Marathwada region, and the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has suffered losses of ₹3.5 crore.

Mumbai: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has asked police to step up security for all ministers and their bungalows in Mumbai fearing a backlash from Maratha protestors, who turned violent in Beed and Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar districts earlier this week. State Additional Director General of Police (Law and order) Sanjay Saxena has also been sent to Beed by DGP Rajnish Seth and is likely to camp there for a few days.

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The decisions were taken after Shinde held a late-night meeting with senior officers on Monday. Following the meeting, Mumbai Police stepped up vigil in Mantralaya and Malabar Hill, and riot control police were deployed in these areas. Security was escalated for Shinde and both the deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, as well as their properties in Thane, Nagpur and Baramati. The personal properties of Dhangar leader Prakash Shendge and NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal as well as Bhujbal’s Mumbai Education Trust have been provided protection. All offices of the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) have also been given protection.

Meanwhile, the state police has made around 85 arrests so far in the violence-hit Marathwada region. Manish Kalwaniya, superintendent of police, Auragabad rural district said there were some incidents of rasta roko and tyre-burning and 90 persons were detained as a preventive measure. Beed collector Deepa Mudhol Munde said that the situation was better on Tuesday, but police had to put a lot of protestors under preventive detention.

The agitation has also paralysed services of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in Parbhani, Dharashiv, Latur, Jalna, Nanded, Beed and Solapur. Services in other districts have also been affected, causing loses worth ₹3.5 crore due to the state transport authority.

An MSRTC spokesperson said that more than 85 buses were damaged in last four days, 70 of them in Beed alone. He said that four buses were completely burnt, and the total loss to MSRTC was around ₹4 crore.