Mumbai Beat

Rasta roko by RPI menMUMBAI, April 28: About 150 activists of the Republican Party of India RPI today blocked traffic at two spots on the ...

Rasta roko by RPI men
MUMBAI, April 28: About 150 activists of the Republican Party of India RPI today blocked traffic at two spots on the Eastern Express Highway protesting desecration of a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Nagpur on Monday.

The irate mob stopped traffic at Chembur Naka and Siddharth Colony junction and pelted stones at vehicles. They were shouting slogans like quot;down down with the alliance governmentquot; and quot;Babasaheb Ambedkar zindabaad.quot; While no injuries were reported, three BEST buses were damaged. The situation, however, was quickly brought under control by a strong contingent of police posted in the area on bandobast duty today being Shiv Jayanti.

The Chembur police detained 17 people and took them to the police station at around 10.50 am. They were charged under section 68 of the Bombay Police Act disturbing law and order. All of them were released at 11.30 am after the situation returned to normal and traffic resumed.

The agitation brought back the memoriesof police firing at Ramabai Colony in which 10 protestors were killed. The protests then too were sparked off by the desecration of a statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Kurla murder accused held
A key accused in the Salim Kurla murder case who supervised Kurla8217;s killing was arrested by the Oshiwara police on Monday evening. Mahesh Makwana, alias Munna, who led the team that shot Kurla on April 21, was arrested at Dahisar on Monday evening and handed over to the Oshiwara police who are investigating the case.

In his statement, Makwana said he had been maintaining a watch on Kurla since a month, and got a chance. When he learnt that Kurla had been admitted to the Belle Vue Nursing Home at Andheri on April 16, he went there on April 21, along with three others. He sent the three hitmen to the first floor where Kurla was, while he waited downstairs. Makwana and the trio then escaped in an autorickshaw. Joint commissioner of police, crime, Ranjit Singh Sharma, said, quot;The motive behind Kurla8217;s killingis gang rivalry, as Kurla belonged to the Chhota Shakeel gang, while Makwana is a Chhota Rajan man.quot; Makwana is accused in several cases of murder.