Jaitapur bandh turns violent, mob ransacks hospital

Mumbai, April 19: The bandh called by opposition Shiv Sena in coastal Ratnagiri district to condemn the police firing on anti-nuclear power project demonstrators in Jaitapur turned violent today with a mob ransacking a district hospital and torching buses.

The mob attacked the district hospital and damaged its postmortem wing in Ratnagiri besides setting on fire some state transport buses and other vehicles, officials said.

With the Opposition sharpening its attack on the ruling Democratic Front (DF) government over the proposed 9900 MW Nuclear Power Project in Jaitapur, the Leader of Opposition in legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse demanded a judicial probe into police firing in which one person was killed.

Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray said that the DF government will have to pay a "heavy price" for police firing.

"It is time for chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to pack up and go home," Thackeray said.

Tavrez Sejkar was yesterday killed in police firing at Sakhrinate village when around 600-700 locals protesting against the project, attacked the local police station.

The project with six nuclear rectors of 1,600 MW each would be one of the largest N-power projects in the world.

PTI