FIRs against BJP, Bajrang Dal, VHP workers; 250+ booked in ground row

The Malvani police have registered two FIRs against Bharatiya Janata Party, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers after they blocked the road for more than two hours during a protest over a ground named after Tipu Sultan. The ground was inaugurated on Wednesday by Mumbai Guardian Minister and local Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh.

The protesters blocked Marve road for over two hours, leading to a traffic snarl. The protesters also forcibly took out keys of trucks and BEST buses, punctured tyres of police vehicles. The officers said the first FIR was registered for flouting Covid-19 norms, while the second FIR is registered against six workers for creating chaos, due to which, a loaded magazine from the pistol of a police officer dropped and bullets went missing.

According to the police officers, Inspector Mahendra Suryawanshi, along with other officers, was escorting protesters - Vivek Singh, Bhagwan Thakur, Arvind Dube, Umesh Pandey, and Pradeep Gaud - to the police van to detain them, when his loaded magazine came out of the pistol and fell on the road. Due to the breaking of the node, the bullets were scattered on the road. Fellow cops found three of the five bullets, the officer said.

"We have booked over 250 protesters and sent them notices. We have not arrested any one. They will be called for inquiry," the officer said. The police have registered an FIR and booked these accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Covid Act and Mumbai Police Act. "We are scanning the CCTVs of the spot to look for the missing bullets," said a police officer from Malvani police station.