By: Rohit Alok While investigations into the events leading to communal clashes in Lalbaug and Parel on Sunday night continue, eyewitnesses said the first incident took place at 6:30 pm, when a rashly driven motorbike brushed against a woman near the Lalbaug market. The biker was then reportedly roughed up by an irate crowd. Around two hours later, bikers who were reportedly driving on the wrong side of the road were challenged by a mob of men at the Bharat Mata cinema junction in Lalbaug. While some fled, eyewitnesses said the mob stood waiting at the junction and then began to stop and assaulting bikers who had been part of the Eid E Milad procession, identifying them by their clothing, skull caps or the flags tied to their bikes. Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria confirmed that the incident was treated as a communal conflagration. No arrest or detention has been made in the case yet though multiple cases of unlawful assembly and rioting were registered. A public telephone booth owner at the Bharat Mata junction in Lalbaug claimed his booth offered the perfect vantage point to witness the incident that later went on to turn into a clash between locals and motorcyclists, spanning nearly four hours. According to another eye-witness, Vinayak Pitunkar, who was closing his shop at the time, a “heated conversation” took place between a few police officers and about five persons at the busy signal. According to eyewitnesses, an additional force of the police arrived at the spot by 9.15 pm and had managed to disperse the agitated mob. “By then, there were at least 15 policemen who were outnumbered and cornered right under the bridge,” the PCO booth owner said. Adil Shah, an office boy working with a tailor, said “the police contained the situation with some force but the mob moved forward towards Parel at around 10 pm”. “Squads from the local police, the State Reserve Police Force, Quick Response Teams and Riot Control Police personnel were deployed in the areas. One person was injured grievously and eleven others sustained minor injuries,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Central region) R D Shinde. “The locals between the stretch of Lalbaug police chowky and Parel bridge were armed with either sticks or stones. They were specifically targeting a set of bikers who they had identified to assault,” said a police officer. “There were four cases registered last night - two for arson at Worli and Bhoiwada police stations after two vehicles were burnt in addition to two other cases for rioting and unlawful assembly,” Shinde said. Admitted in Ward no. 5 on the first floor with KEM hospital, Waris Khan (name changed) said he was attacked with weapons and required three stitches on his forehead after he was hit with a large stone. “I was on my way to south Mumbai from Chembur. After we descended from the Parel bridge, just before the Central Railway Loco Workshop, we were attacked by a group of eight bulky men in their 20s with sticks and stones around 10.20 pm,” the 27-year-old said. Khan said he ran towards a police van that then took him to the Bhoiwada police station. He was later taken to KEM around 1 pm after recording his statement with 12 other who were injured there. Salim Shiekh, another injured, said when he saw a group of people him under the Lalbaug bridge, he abandoned his bike and ran towards Chinchpokli station. “I took the train to go to Sion, where I live. I value my life more than my bike,” Sheikh said.
