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Journalism of Courage
Traffic on the Pune-Bangalore highway in Pune’s Navale Bridge area was blocked on Tuesday as a large number of protesters staged an agitation over the demand for Maratha reservation and burnt several tyres. With protests escalating into violence, the police have also upped security at residential and official premises of key political leaders and stepped up patrolling.
An officer from Sinhagad Road police station said that on Tuesday afternoon, protesters stopped the traffic in both directions on the Katraj Dehu Road bypass of the Pune Bangalore highway at Navale Bridge and burnt six to seven tyres. A large police force was deployed in the area, officials said.
On Monday, the protests over reservation for the Maratha community turned violent in various parts of the state’s Marathwada region with protesters resorting to arson and vandalism, targeting the houses of two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLAs and a municipal building in Beed. Agitators also vandalised the office of a BJP MLA in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district and damaged several state-owned buses as road blockades were held in various parts of Marathwada.
“In the backdrop of incidents in Marathwada region on Monday, we have stepped up security around residential and office premises of some key political leaders in the city. We are also in constant communication with the leaders and activists of the Maratha community. Overall police deployment in the city, police patrolling and vigil have been stepped up. We are also keeping a close watch on the online space,” a senior officer from Pune City police said. Officials said that similar measures have been taken in Pimpri Chinchwad and Pune Rural jurisdictions too.
The police have appealed to the citizens to exercise caution while posting content related to the Maratha reservation issue online and on social media platforms.
