Nashik, July 23:  In a shocking incident, a young man jumped into river Godavari of Nashik District on Monday afternoon in a bid to focus attention on the issue of Maratha reservation. The man has been identified as Kakasaheb Shinde and as per a news report in one of the regional news channel TV9 Marathi, the man's condition is said to be critical. Allegedly, the youth took the extreme step after the Devendra Fadnavis-led state government was unable to fulfil the long-pending reservation demand for Marathas in educational institutions and for government jobs. Therefore, the agitators, like Shinde, are now turning violent to expedite the government's decision.

Amid the tensed situation, the CM also cancelled his visit to Pandhurpur on Monday and did not perform the ashadhi ekadashi pooja, as per the earlier reports. A few of the agitators in the afternoon also had been detained in Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad area ahead of CM's programme. The protestors had planned to create ruckus during the programme and so as a precautionary measure, the police had detained them.

Since Satuday, the Marathas have been holding violent protests against the state government in places like Solapur and Pandharpur. In Solapur, a few of the agitators ransacked state transport vehicles. While on Sunday, they obstructed the vehicles of two ministers Subhash Deshmukh and Girish Mahajan as a mark of protest.

Furthermore, the protestors are planning to intensify their strike and are organising a statewide bandh on August 9. However, the date of protest is yet to be finalised. The Marathas started the first protest after a minor girl was brutally raped and murdered in Kopardi, Ahmednagar. After the incident, lakhs of people gathered on the streets and demanded that the accused be hanged till death. Along with this, the agitators also want special reservation status for their community.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2018 04:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).