A picnic party at Borivali National Park on Sunday turned into a slanging match between picnickers and forest authorities.
A picnic party at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park at Borivali on Sunday turned into a slanging match between the picnickers and the forest authorities.
Utkarsh Naithani (27), creative head of a radio channel, was one among the 20-member party that arrived at the park around 9 am on Sunday. The young ones immediately started playing near the Tiger Safari area, but were stopped by deputy conservator of forests, SGNP, Dr PN Munde, who was out on his morning rounds.
Utkarsh said, “My nephew Yash Thakur (17) and his friends were playing with cricket balls near the Tiger Safari, when a senior official accosted them and asked them to stop. When I asked him the reason, he said that playing cricket was forbidden in the area and started abusing me.” He further alleged that Munde slapped him repeatedly for “speaking disrespectfully to a senior person.”
“Utkarsh and the entire group were detained at Munde’s office for over half an hour,” said Pratibha Naithani, professor of Political Science, Xaviers’ College, Utkarsh’s sister. “I also object to Munde making regional remarks against non-Maharashtrians”, she added. Utkarsh went to Kasturbha police station, Borivili (east), but was enraged by the “reluctance of officials to file an FIR against Munde”.
“They said that the matter was not under their jurisdiction, and added that they could not record a complaint against a senior government official. It was only after our repeated insistence that they finally filed an NC against him,” said Pratibha. Kasturbha police station sources confirmed that they had lodged an NC against Munde.
Dr Munde dismissed the incident as “concocted”. “Many people visit the park on a daily basis, and it is our job to maintain order in the premises. The boys were playing cricket near the Tiger Safari. When I asked them to stop, they threw their weight around and said that they would go to the media if we stopped them,” Dr Munde told DNA.
He denied slapping Utkarsh. “Why would I hit someone? I just asked them to stop playing.”
Utkarsh, visited Bhagwati Hospital, and was given a tetanus shot. “I have a letter from the hospital to prove that I sustained bruises due to the slaps,” he said.
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