Shinde men beat up civic officials for following CM’s orders against unauthorised political banners

Shiv Sena workers in Mumbai allegedly beat up civic officials who were removing unauthorized political banners despite the Chief Minister's orders. An FIR has been registered against a party leader.

Mumbai: Chief minister Eknath Shinde’s orders to remove unauthorised political banners and posters that are defacing the city have not been heeded by his own party workers, who took umbrage and allegedly beat up civic officials.

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An FIR was registered by Kandivali police on Friday after Prakash Giri, Shiv Sena shakha pramukh from shakha 21, of Shinde faction along with 15-20 activists who opposed the removal of their political banners on the junction of MG Road and Link Road junction, threatened BMC workers with abusive language and even allegedly assaulted them.

An official from Kandivali police confirmed that Giri had been booked under sections 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from carrying out his duty) and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duty) of the Indian Penal Code. No arrest has been made in the case yet.

Civic official Mahesh Mhapankat and Hanif Sheikh, a labourer, and other workers were brutally beaten up in the process by the shakha men. The concerned civic officials then reported the crime to the senior PI of Kandivali police station.

Lalit Talekar, assistant commissioner, R south ward said, “According to the civic chief’s order, our officials from the licence department-initiated action against illegal banners when the party workers assaulted our workers. We have filed a police complaint, and an FIR has been registered against the shakha pramukh from Shiv Sena.”

In an online meeting held on September 1 at 5pm, civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal based on CM Shinde’s orders had directed assistant commissioners of 24 wards on September 2 to remove all unauthorised banners and posters. Also, instructions had been given that the area should be cleaned, all potholes should be filled quickly, and care should be taken to ensure that all the roads remain in good condition during the assessment period.

Accordingly, the assistant engineer of R/South ward and the officers/employees and senior inspector (licence department) on September 8 at around 12.15pm took joint action on MG Road, Link Road junction in Kandivali.

While the operation of removing unauthorised posters and banners was going on, Giri, along with about 15-20 activists opposed the removal of banners and allegedly threatened the officials and workers/employees in inappropriate language before beating up civic officials and labourers. The said incident has created an atmosphere of anger, dissatisfaction, and fear among the workers in R south ward and the issue of safety of the employees has become a vital cause for concern.

Sheetal Mhatre, spokesperson for Shiv Sena, was unavailable for comment.