Youth groups booked for pelting stones at police station

Kondhwa police have filed rioting-related cases against two youth groups for engaging in late-night violence, stone-pelting over fight between minors who had come to attend function in housing society

PUNE: The Kondhwa police have registered rioting-related cases against two groups of youth for engaging in late-night violence and stone-pelting over a fight between some minors who had come to attend a function in a residential society on Monday.

Kondhwa police have filed rioting-related cases against two youth groups for engaging in late-night violence, stone-pelting over fight between minors who had come to attend function in housing society. ((PIC FOR REPRESENTATION))

According to Kondhwa police station in-charge Kumar Ghadage, it began during a programme at a residential society in Kondhwa where several children had gathered. Reportedly, a minor altercation erupted among the children which later escalated into a full-blown scuffle. The situation worsened after some adults intervened in the dispute, Ghadage said.

According to police officials, after the residents of a nearby Kondhwa village learned about the fight between the children, groups of youth reached the residential society premises and allegedly assaulted some of the children involved in the brawl. Soon after, a large crowd gathered outside the residential society, leading to tension in the area.

Police personnel rushed to the site after being alerted and shifted the injured children to the police station for safety and inquiry. However, members of both the youth groups later gathered outside the police station, causing panic in the locality. According to the police, some people in the crowd allegedly pelted stones at the police station while others sat on the road outside, disrupting vehicular movement. Additional police personnel had to be deployed to bring the situation under control.

Additional commissioner (eastern region), Manoj Patil, said that the issue occurred due to a fight between some minors inside the residential society premises. “The incident took place between children aged 13 to 14 years wherein some outside youth came to the society, leading to escalation. Both parties came to the police station and upon reaching, some of them resorted to stone-pelting. At that time, the police defused the situation and both the parties involved were separated and legal action was initiated. The police had to resort to a soft lathi charge to shoo away the crowd. There is no communal angle involved in the incident. Offences have been lodged against the accused and some persons have been taken into custody. We appeal to citizens not to spread false rumours failing which, FIRs will be lodged,” Patil said.