Agitators used women as shield during well-planned protest in Chembur

Chembur police who were caught napping by rampant protesters on Tuesday have alleged that the violent agitation was a wellplanned conspiracy with women pushed to the front as human shieldsThe Regar community Marwari speakers who are into tanning dying and cobbling had arranged a massive funeral procession for Pancharam Rithadia who had committed suicide on October 13 after alleging police negligence in tracing his 17yearold daughter who had gone missing on March 30The community had on Monday boycotted polls The police told midday that they were aware that Tuesdays protest may get out of hand and claimed that they had deployed sufficient personnel along the route from Adarsh Nagar in Thakkar Bappa Colony to the municipal crematorium in ChemburResidents manhandling the copsFormer Mumbai police commissioner MN Singh told midday that while the cops may have had a sense of how things would pan out they should have followed due procedure to contain the incidentThe police must have sensed the unrest or anger among people joining procession Singh said If they launched the lathicharge without following procedures mdash which is to first issue a warning followed by tear gas and water canon and finally lathicharge mdash then the police must be held responsible for not handling the situation properly But such situations are very volatile and can turn ugly in a few minutesThe police claimed that they were caught on the wrong foot because the protesters had pushed women to the front There were not enough women police personnel to tackle these women protestersCrowds had packed the streets in the areaSince Pancharams suicide there have been two rasta roko protests carried out in Nehru Nagarm said an officer So we had a hint that residents will try something during the procession Adequate force was deployed but women protestors came to the front which made it difficult for cops to apply force against them They had to wait for women personnelIn the ensuing commotion seven policemen got isolated and were attacked by the mob The police on Wednesday claimed that the violence was planned and that the protesters had also planned to use women as shields The police said the procession was over two kilometres longPeople walking along with the procession suddenly sat at Umarashi Bappa Chowk and started protesting by chocking vehicular traffic said an officer When the police started dispersing the crowd hundreds of protesters started attacking the police and smashing vehicles Additional force was demanded by Chembur cops to control the mob But before reinforcements could arrive seven policemen were attacked and 30 vehicles were damagedThe officer alleged that it was a well planned move and not spontaneous Our investigation has revealed that meetings were held before the procession he said Deputy Commissioner of Police Shashi Kumar Meena said 38 people have been arrested and a case has been registered against a further 150 unknown peopleAudio clip emergesOn Wednesday an audio clip went viral on social media where a Marwarispeaking man is heard instigating the community to attack policemen with chilli powder The police said they have tracked this person to AhmedabadOct 13Day Pancharam Rithadiya committed suicideCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates