Mumbai, May 20 (PTI) Three police personnel were injured after angry residents of a slum in Mumbai's Bandra East area hurled stones at them as authorities razed an allegedly illegal mosque during an anti-encroachment
drive on Wednesday, officials said.
At least ten persons were detained for stone-pelting, they said, adding that police resorted to lathi-charge to control the unruly mob, in which some local residents were also injured.
The Western Railway on Tuesday launched a massive anti-encroachment drive in Gareeb Nagar slum area, clearing several of the 500 illegal huts adjacent to the eastern side of Bandra railway station following the Bombay High Court's directions.
The authorities plan to clear 5,200 square metres of encroached railway land over five days. Vineet Abhishek, chief PRO of Western Railway, said almost 60 percent of illegal structures have been removed so far.
On the second day of the anti-encroachment drive, the authorities started pulling down an alleged illegal three-storey mosque in the slum. Soon, a large number of people gathered at the site, creating tension, the police officials said.
The angry residents claimed that authorities did not give them adequate time to remove belongings from houses before the demolition began.
To disperse the mob, the police started lathi-charging, an official said, adding that several persons including women sustained injuries during the action.
Some people later started throwing stones at the police, in which three personnel were injured, the official said.
Ten persons were detained and the police again lathi-charged the unruly protesters to bring the situation under control, he said.
Additional Commissioner of Police Abhinav Deshmukh said the anti-encroachment drive was being carried out under the jurisdiction of Nirmal Nagar police station as per the high court orders.
"Some anti-social elements tried to obstruct the work by hurling stones at the demolition squad. The police used appropriate force to disperse them," he said.
The process of registering an FIR is underway, Deshmukh said, adding that strict legal action will be taken against the miscreants.
According to officials, more than 1,000 personnel were deployed at the site, including around 400 personnel of the city police besides those belonging to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP).
Local MLA and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Varun Sardesai accused the ruling BJP of setting a narrative that the Maharashtra government was acting against illegal Bangladeshi migrants living in the area.
"The action was undertaken on a court order. Neither the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation nor the state government was involved in it. The action was taken by the Western Railway," Sardesai said. PTI ZA PR KK NP KRK
