The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has replaced the contract security guards posted at civic headquarters with five new permanent staff after the former failed to stop Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leaders from barging into the municipal commissioner’s office earlier this week.
The incident took place on Wednesday when MNS leader Kishor Shinde and his supporters forcibly entered the office of municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram while he was in a meeting related to solid waste management issue with senior civic officers. The intrusion disrupted the meeting, leading to a heated exchange between the civic chief and MNS leaders and workers.
Police later registered a complaint against Shinde and others involved. Tensions escalated as both the political group and the civic administration staged separate protests against each other following the incident.
In the aftermath, deputy municipal commissioner Sandeep Khalate ordered the transfer of security guards on duty that day, citing negligence. “If the guards had managed to stop the agitators before they entered the commissioner’s office, the situation would not have escalated. Even after entry, they failed to contain the disruption,” a senior civic official said.
The civic body has deployed permanent security personnel from its payroll at the commissioner’s office, replacing the outsourced contractual guards.
{{/usCountry}}The civic body has deployed permanent security personnel from its payroll at the commissioner’s office, replacing the outsourced contractual guards.
{{/usCountry}}The move comes amid growing security concerns at the PMC headquarters, which has seen multiple incidents in recent years where political groups have entered sensitive administrative areas to stage protests or confront officials.