Mumbai, July 30: There have been reports of the Maratha Reservation protests turning violent at several places. According to media reports, vehicles have been burnt and public property has been destructed in Pune in Pimpri's Chakan area. According to news channel TV9 Marathi, about 80 vehicles have been attacked out of which 20 to 25 vehicles have been burnt.

Earlier in the day, reports emerged of another Maratha youth, who committed suicide in Maharashtra's Aurangabad , demanding reservation for the Maratha community. Pramod Patil, committed suicide after writing a Facebook post in which he wrote that, "Today, a Maratha is going..." and said that he is giving away his life for Maratha reservation.

This is the second suicide within a week on the issue of Maratha reservation. On July 23, a 28-year-old youth named Kakasaheb Shinde, had jumped to his death in Godavari river, demanding reservation for Maratha community. There were reports of Ahmednagar-Aurangabad highway being blocked by Maratha groups, protesting the death of Kakasaheb Shinde.

The Maratha Kranti Morcha, on the issue of reservation for the Maratha community, has called for a Bandh in Maharashtra's Solapur district on Monday. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has suspended the bus services in Solapur, in wake of the bandh.

The Maratha Reservation protests, which have been organised for the past two years now, have been largely peaceful so far, but there have been reports of violence in the past few Morchas (rally) by the Maratha Kranti Morcha. The Maratha groups have though denied the charges of the rallies going violent and blamed the Maharashtra state government responsible for the violence by stoking the anger among Maratha youth.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2018 03:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).