'Pigeon feeding' leads to violence in Navi Mumbai

MUMBAI: An altercation over pigeons that were fed by members of a housing society, led to tension in neighbouring Navi Mumbai's Kharghar area, police said on Tuesday.

Trouble began on Sunday night after a group of boys from the nearby Belpada village pelted stones at the pigeons that were being fed by the residents of the housing society, they said.

"Two of the residents of the building tried to make the boys understand that what they were doing was not right but without any reasoning they began to beat the two," they said.

The residents later filed a police complaint after the boys fled back to their village, they said.

However, a mob of about 350 villagers gathered outside the residential building soon after the residents returned after filing the complaint in the night, they said.

The mob barged into the building premises and damaged cars parked there and beat up some residents. Two persons were injured in the violence, they said.

Cases of rioting and arson have been registered against the violent crowd, sources said, adding that some persons who were part of the crowd were missing from the village after the incident.