Maharashtra Government to withdraw cases against Railway apprentices

Bringing relief to protesting Railway apprentices who held up rail traffic on Tuesday morning, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government would withdraw the cases against them however the police will continue its crackdown against those involved in violence and stone-pelting.

Speaking in the state legislative assembly on Thursday, leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said 1,200 of the youth had been rounded up by the police and were being identified on the basis of videos from the incident and CCTV footage. "It will not be appropriate to arrest them and take them to the police station. This will have a bearing on their future," said Vikhe Patil, urging the state government to intervene.

Fadnavis said they would not back down in the action against those who were involved in stone-pelting and violence as that would lead people to act in impunity in the future.

The protests by the All India Act Apprentice Association (AAAAA) sought scrapping of the 20 per cent quota for direct recruitment and jobs for local candidates who have cleared the All India Railway Act Apprentice Exams in all states. They held up rail traffic between Matunga and Dadar railway stations on the Central Railway network.