Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has written a letter to Chief Minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis seeking withdrawal of serious charges slapped on protesters during a Maratha quota agitation in 2018 at Kalamboli-Kamothe area of Navi Mumbai after conducting a proper enquiry.
The police had fired in the air after protesters indulged in arson and pelted stones during the stir last July along the Sion-Panvel Highway in Raigad.
In Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati too had demanded the newly-formed Congress governments to withdraw cases filed against Scheduled Caste protesters by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments during the Bharat bandh called by SC groups on April 2, 2018, calling them politically motivated. The government in Madhya Pradesh has taken back the cases.
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Mr, Pawar wrote the letter dated December 29, after he visited the Panvel tehsil. However, he made it public on Wednesday.
It stated, “I was given a memorandum during my visit which stated that innocent and well-educated people were booked by police under Section 307 (Attempt to murder) of the IPC and other serious charges.”
“It is highly unlikely that doctors, lawyers and women would indulge in violence,” he wrote. Mr. Pawar also attached a list of people who he said were falsely implicated under serious charges.
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The NCP chief has demanded an enquiry into the charges to ensure that innocent people are not harassed.
“I expect you will withdraw cases against innocent persons,” Mr Pawar said to the CM.