Did evicted Tansa slum dwellers attack Mumbai police on day of bandh?

25 policemen from four police stations — Chembur, Vikhroli, Parksite and Powai — sustained injuries while trying to control violent protests

The city police suspect the violent attack on policemen during the Dalit stir on Tuesday and Wednesday, reported mostly in some pockets of the eastern suburbs, was orchestrated by agitated slum dwellers whose hutments were recently demolished to clear grounds for construction of a cycling track along the Tansa pipeline.

Protesters clash with the police in Powai on Tuesday. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The 39-km long track, joining Mulund and Antop Hill, is being built by clearing encroachments along the pipeline that carries water to the city from the Tansa lake in Thane. In the past months, the corporation has cleared 5-6 km of encroachments, triggering displacement of thousands of slum dwellers who continue to squatter in make-shift shanties.

A top Mumbai police official said 25 policemen who sustained injuries while trying to control violent protests were from four police stations—Chembur, Vikhroli, Parksite and Powai. Of them two— constable Deepak Khedekar and assistant commissioner of police (ACP) J D more— sustained serious injuries.

The next day, staff from the nearby Powai police station faced heavy stone-pelting by flash mobs. Sixteen policemen suffered minor to moderate injuries.

The official said an analysis of CCTV footages and ground intelligence showed most attackers were from the slums. “Thousands of them came in waves, mingled with the protesters after climbing down the hills and indulged in hooliganism,” the officer said.

Sachin Patil, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), operations, said the hooligans have been identified by eyewitnesses and CCTV footages. “They will be dealt with all severity,” he said.