Pune shutdown: Agitators damage eight city buses

Pune, Dec 28 (ANI): A Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sponsored Pune shutdown to protest the removal of the statue of Dadoji Kondadev, considered the mentor of Shivaji, began on a violent note on Tuesday with agitators vandalised eight buses in different parts of the city.

The Saffron alliance had given a call for a shutdown after the NCP-Congress ruled Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) removed the statue of Dadoji from the sculpture at "Lal Mahal".

The agitators also tried to disrupt rail traffic at Lonavala on Mumbai-Pune section of the central railway.

The statue had become a bone of contention following persistent demand by pro-Maratha outfit 'Sambhaji Brigade' opposing its presence at the Lal Mahal, along with sculptures of Jijabai and a young Shivaji .

The BJP blamed the ruling NCP-Congress alliance for the violence and alleged that it was a diversionary tactic. (ANI)