Koparkhairane ward officer among 7 booked for caste bias

The case was registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Civil Rights Protection Act. The accused have been identified as Sagar More, the ward officer, Dagdu Kadam, Darshan Kadam, Deva Kadam, Siddhesh Kadam, Ajay Salunkhe and one lassi seller whose name is not revealed yet.

Navi Mumbai: The ward officer from Koparkhairane E Division and six others were booked after they allegedly targeted a person from the Pawane village, Turbhe, who belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) tribe.

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The case was registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Civil Rights Protection Act. The accused have been identified as Sagar More, the ward officer, Dagdu Kadam, Darshan Kadam, Deva Kadam, Siddhesh Kadam, Ajay Salunkhe and one lassi seller whose name is not revealed yet.

As per the police, the complainant, Santosh Kamble, a resident of Pawane village, had put up a banner for Buddh Poornima on Thane-Belapur Road on May 5. However, on the next day, the employees of Koparkhairane E ward of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) removed his banner citing it to be illegal while taking no action against any other banners put in the same area by other communities.

On May 8, Kamble went to the ward office and questioned the biased behaviour of the ward officer following which More took action against other illegal small businesses and took away the properties belonging to them. According to the complainant, when the ward officers took action against any illegal work and seized properties, it was usually not returned, but More returned it after a few hours to the shop owners indicating it was a token action.

Kamble alleged that this kind of attitude against him existed because he belonged to the SC community and hence, he was being targeted. Accordingly, he filed a complaint with Turbhe MIDC police.

“As per the protocol, further investigations are being conducted. No arrests have been made yet,” said senior police inspector Ravindra Daundkar from Turbhe MIDC police station.