Violent Sainiks protest power cuts

Barely two months before the assembly polls, the Shiv Sena seems to have resorted to its trademark street politics. Eight offices of the MSEDCL were vandalised and four vehicles burnt at various places allegedly by Sainiks to protest power cuts in Thane.

Barely two months before the assembly polls, the Shiv Sena seems to have resorted to its trademark street politics.

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Eight offices of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL) were vandalised and four vehicles burnt at various places allegedly by Sainiks to protest power cuts in Thane.

About 500 Sainiks, led by MLA Eknath Shinde and Lok Sabha MP from Kalyan Anand Paranjpe, staged a protest march from Chandanwadi to the MSEDCL's administrative office at Waghle Estate in Thane (West) on Tuesday.

About 350 policemen, including senior officials and State Reserve Police Force, tried to control the crowd. Shinde and other leaders submitted their demand list to the superintendent engineer of MSEDCL.

“We want zero power cut as was promised by the state. Even though there is power cut, people still have to pay 43 paise per unit. The meters are faulty and the agency responsible sends bills without proper reading,” said Shinde.

“Eight offices have been damaged. As far as their demands are concerned, it’s a policy decision which needs to be discussed in detail,” said MSEDCL engineer Ramesh Gholap.