Relatives accept bodies at Sassoon, say they will perform last rites at agitation spot
Relatives accept bodies at Sassoon, say they will perform last rites at agitation spot
Fearing a backlash from grieving relatives who had come to take the bodies of those killed in Tuesday's mayhem at Talegaon, the police last morning cordoned off Sassoon General Hospital and went in for heavy bandobast. Around 100 policemen, 20 of them armed with rifles, were deployed around noon as the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.
Behind the farmers: BJP activists stage a demonstration before the
u00a0District Collector's Office yesterday
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Dean of Sassoon Dr Ajay Chandan Wale refused to disclose anything about the deaths. "The post-mortem report is very confidential and we cannot disclose anything," said Chandan. Dr DG Kulkarni, head of the forensic department at Sassoon, also maintained a stoic silence. Only some parts of the post-mortem report were shared, and these stated that all three deaths were due to firearm injuries.
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Kanta Ankuj Thakar died because of haemorrhage and Moreshwar Sathe and Shamrao Waghu Tupe because of an injury to the neck vessel. Sources at Sassoon also said the bullets had hit the chest of Thakar and the neck of Sathe and Tupe. Thakar's brother-in-law, who was present at Sassoon to take the body, said: "Initially, we were not ready to accept the body, but since 24 hours have passed since the death, we thought we would take it for the final rites.
However, we have decided that we will cremate all the bodies at the spot where the incident took place on Tuesday." Tupe's cousin Tukaram Dabhare said: "The body has several injury marks but thankfully we were able to recognise it. We are still in a state of shock and cannot come to terms with this incident. We hope to get justice soon."
Ashok Bendre, a constable attached to the Bund Garden police station, said: "There are at least 90 policemen for the bandobast and 20 were on duty with rifles. But there was no ruckus while handing over the bodies to the relatives." Sassoon cancelled leaves of workers at the morgue because of the Talegaon incident and the in-house security was beefed up. No one was allowed to enter the premises.
Project on hold
District Collector Vikas Deshmukh has ordered the project to lay a closed pipeline from Pavna dam to villages adjourning Pimpri-Chinchwad to be put on hold immediately. "Considering the law and order situation, I have issued orders to Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Ashish Sharma to stop work to underlay water pipelines till a meeting of top authorities takes place."
BJP Blames pawars for incident
Over 300 BJP activists staged an agitation before the District Collector's Office near the Sassoon hospital morgue last afternoon. BJP city president Vikas Mathkari with state-level leader Omprakash Dhankad and Karnataka leader Kishor Gauda Patil participated in the agitation.
They blamed Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Pune guardian minister Ajit Pawar for the incident. "It is really a shame that the farmers have to agitate for the right to get water even after 60 years of independence.
We condemn the closed-pipeline scheme, which is only for the industrial units and multinational companies in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Pawars are, in a way, ordering the farmers to chale jao (quit and go) on August 9, Kranti Din." Mathkari also asked for Rs 15 lakh to be paid by way of compensation to the relatives of those killed in the firing and demanded a judicial inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge.
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