Villagers,security personnel clash at Lavasa City

According to the villagers,the security guards beat up one of the members in the village on Tuesday night which led to skirmishes between the villagers and security men. Leelabai Margale,a villager who was sitting for the morcha from morning to evening,said that villagers were “tortured without reason.” The incident occured when a group of villagers who were returning from a palkhi procession stopped en route to fill fuel at the fuel station. They were reportedly denied refuelling that led to heated arguments. “They beat up Bharat Patil,one of the villagers. The security guards meanwhile started firing. The villagers then came back early morning and demanded justice. They resorted to more firing leaving 10 injured,” she said.

She has been assured by the company spokesperson of Lavasa,Suresh Pendharkar,that a joint meeting will be conducted.

“They have taken our lands and now they don’t let us live in peace. They are harassing us,” she said.

Company officers maintained that the villagers were in an inebriated state and were unnecessarily arguing.

“The villagers continued demanding free diesel which led to an argument between the group and the attendents at the fuel station. Security had to be called in to control the situation. The same group returned with more people and resorted to more violence injuring six security guards,” said Pendharkar.

The security guards who were injured were admitted to Sri Krishna hospital in Pune while the villagers too have been admitted to a local hospital in Pirangut.

A complaint of attempt to murder was lodged at Paud police station against the security guards identified as Mhaske,Amit Saheb,along with Dalvi and Mishra from Delta force about 30 to 40 security staff.

Police inspector Narayan Nyhalje of Paud police station said that Shivaji Tanaji Shedge (26),resident of Dhaman Ohol village,who was also injured during the incident,has lodged the complaint.

Nyahalje said that security guards have been booked under relevant section of Arms Act,section 307 (attempt to murder) and other sections of Indian Penal Code for rioting,illegal gathering.

“Seven villagers identified as Maruti Margale,Bharat Shedge,Dinkar Shedge,Rajendra Shedge,Uttam Shedge,Arjun Shedge and the complainant Shivaji Shedge were injured during the incident,” he said.

Lavasa lake city is being developed by Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) near Pune within the Western Ghat ranges on 12500 acres. Promoted as free India’s first planned hill station,Lavasa lake city,will be ready as a complete town with a population of 1.5 lakh. Being developed in accordance with the controversial Hill Station policy passed by the Maharashtra government,the Lavasa lake city,has attracted opposition right from day one. However,the developers have now overcome all the difficulties and socio-political hurdles,as the first phase of this Rs 40,000-crore project is nearing completion. The city is coming up on eight huge hillocks that surround the illongated Varasgaon dam backwaters to ensure excellent natural habitat for the city