Curfew clamped in Kalyan; 3 killed in violence

Thane, Oct 22: Curfew was clamped in Kalyan of Thane district in Maharashtra by authorities on Wednesday, Oct 22 following unabated violence, in which three people were killed. The curfew was in vogue from 1100 hrs. Raj Thackeray, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief is to be produced before a local court in Kalyan on Wednesday, Oct 22 following his re-arrest in connection with the attack on north Indian candidates appearing for a Railway Recruitment Board examination on Sunday, Oct 19.

More than 1,000 MNS workers had been camping outside the Manpada police station on Tuesday, Oct 21 night, even as violence continued in the night in protest against the arrest. Police said that in Mumbai irate mob had set several vehicles and shops in Kalyan jurisdiction on fire. Police opened fire in air to disperse the mob, which did not respond to lathicharge.

Details about the fatal incidents were yet to be known. Three platoons each of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) have been deployed in the Kalyan-Dombivali area.

Raj is likely to be produced before the Magistrate in Kalyan at around 1400 hrs. He was earlier scheduled to appear before the court at 1100 hrs. He was arrested in the early hours of on Tuesday, Oct 21 at Ratnagiri in connection with a similar incident at Kherwadi, Bandra in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Amidst high drama and pitched battle between the police and the MNS workers near the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate Court, he was produced and remanded to two weeks judicial custody.

However, the MNS chief was immediately re-arrested by the Kalyan police on charges of attacking the north Indian candidates on Oct 19 in its jurisdiction and sought a transit remand. The Magistrate offered transit remand and Raj Thackeray was swiftly shifted to Manpada police station at Dombivli, where he spent the night.

Though there was a continuous battle between the police and the MNS workers, including women, around Bandra, some areas of the city and few parts of Maharashtra witnessed stray incidents of violence and arson, with government buses and taxis and autorickshaws being the targets.

Police said that three people were killed on Tuesday, Oct 21 in the violence erupted after the arrest of Raj Thackeray.

UNI