One died, several injured in Umrer violence

One person died and several others were reportedly injured in violence in Umrer, 45 kms from Nagpur, on Tuesday, reports Sarita Kaushik.

One person died and several others were reportedly injured in violence in Umrer, 45 kms from Nagpur, on Tuesday. An indefinite curfew has now been imposed in the area.

Violence erupted after residents protested unscheduled and prolonged power cuts — often stretching into 10-12 hours daily. About 2,000 angry residents including farmers — protesting the daily loadshedding — assembled outside the office of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) demanding to meet him at around 11 am. The officer refused to meet them. The protestors, however, were unwilling to hand over their memorandum to anyone else and insisted the SDO meet them.

When the officer failed to meet them even till 2 pm, the protestors ransacked the tehsil office. They broke furniture and damaged computers. The mob then moved to a nearby police station and torched two private and a government vehicle. They even tried to set on fire the homes of local MLA Rajendra Mulak and the SDO, it is learnt.

Unable to control the mob, the police initially resorted to heavy cane charge and then started firing. Several people were injured. One person later succumbed to his injuries.

Additional police force from Nagpur had to be deployed in Umrer. The Superintendent of Police (rural) Yashasvi Yadav was unavailable for comment.

Email Sarita Kaushik: sarita.kaushik@hindustantimes.com

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