Bhima Koregaon Violence keeps police on toes across state

While the situation in Pune remained under control a day after the violence in Bhima Koregaon, strong reactions to the incident were seen across the state. Normal life was disturbed in parts of Aurangabad, Satara, Sangli, Latur, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Nashik districts.

In Pune, heavy police bandobast was seen at Bhima Koregaon, where the riots had taken place. While the rural parts of the district remained calm, there were a few incidents of stone-pelting and rasta roko in areas like Hadapsar, Pimpri, Yerwada and Vishrantwadi in Pune city.

Meanwhile, the situation in Aurangabad was tense on Tuesday where some organisations protested against the Pune violence. 

The police had to fire in the air to disperse a mob when they started pelting stones at vehicles and shops. Most of the shops in areas like Siddharthnagar, Ramanagar, Usmanpura and Ekthnathnagar remained shut. Police promulgated Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code to prevent unlawful assembly.

In Latur district the protest took a violent turn. The protestors pelted stones at state transport buses and forced all bus operators to halt their services in the afternoon. The shops were forced to down shutters. The police detained some protesters.

The police had to deploy additional force in places like Satav chowk, Jathar peth, and Rautwadi in Akola district, where shopkeepers were being forced to shut shops.

In Satara's Karad, three rallies were organised to condemn the Bhima Koregaon violence. When the rallies went through the city, some protesters pelted stones on cars. However, according to the police, the overall situation was kept under control.

In Pune's neighbouring district Ahmednagar, normal life was disturbed following some violent protest. The protesters pelted stones at state transport buses and other vehicles in the areas including Kinetic chowk, Maliwada, Wadia Park, Market Yard and Kedgaon.

Sangli's Miraj area also saw stone-pelting late on Monday night.