By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police have arrested 36 residents of Sewri, eastern suburb of Mumbai for allegedly rioting and attacking on police following tearing of Eid-e-Milad posters and flags. The police picked 36 on Tuesday night and produced them in the court on Wednesday, which sent them in police custody till March 4.
Eminent social activist Farooque Mapkar informed TwoCircles.net that Police arrested 27 Muslims and 9 Hindus on Tuesday night and detained 9 others on Wednesday. “Police arrested 36 people and they were sent to Police custody till March 4 by the session court. However, after the intervention of activists and politicians the police released 9 others who were detained on Wednesday.
According to locals, situation in the area was tense when some posters and flags of Eid-e-Milad were found torn on Tuesday night. The situation got more tense when on the same night a boy from a particular community was pushed, leading to stone pelting between members of two communities.
But according to the police, Hindus and Muslims in the night of Tuesday came face to face, started stone pelting and rioting that created chaos in the area.
S.M. Malik, Secretary, Movement for Peace and Justice, MPJ said, “Police had mainly arrested the people who used to sleep on roads in the night or the waiters of hotels.” He said that they are so poor that they cannot even afford the lawyers’ fees and bail amount.
S.M. Malik told that after the incident he along with a lawyer visited the area and found no witness to the incident of insulting flags. He alleged that Guru Kohli, a close associate of sitting Congress MLA and his associates are responsible for rioting.
The situation was so tense that Mumbai Police Commissioner, Arup Patnaik, who has taken charge two days before, visited the area along with Joint Commissioner Rajnish Seth.
Local residents alleged that Police acted in a biased manner and supported mischievous people. The police allegedly lathi-charged only Muslims and booked dozens of them for rioting.
The session court will hear the bail plea for the accused on Friday.