Maratha Reservation: Bandh’ Observed in Beed To Protest Police Action Against Maratha Quota Agitators in Maharashtra’s Jalna

Beed, September 2: A 'bandh' was observed on Saturday in Beed in Maharashtra in protest against police action a day earlier on those sitting on a hunger strike in Jalna seeking reservation for the Maratha community in jobs and education. On Friday, police had resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob in Antarwali Sarathi on Dhule-Solapur road in Jalna's Ambad tehsil after those at the site allegedly refused to let authorities shift a man on hunger strike to the hospital. Jalna Violence Video: Stone Pelted, Vehicle Torched During Protest Demanding Maratha Reservation

The shutdown called by the Maratha Kranti Morcha in Beed was mostly peaceful, though incidents of stone pelting were reported from Majalgaon, while private and state-run buses stayed off the roads, officials said. Stones were pelted at Shivaji Chowk, new bus station, Purnawadi bank and a hotel near Sambhaji Chowk in Majalgaon town, they informed, though a top police official said just one case of stone-pelting was reported. The road blockade at Gevarai as part of the shutdown went off peacefully, these officials informed. Maratha Reservation: Chaos During Protest in Maharashtra's Jalna, Police Use Baton-Charge and Fire Teargas Shells to Disperse Crowd (Watch Video)

An official said the main protests were held at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk and in front of the Beed collectorate, while the shutdown also affected areas like Dharur, Ashti and Ambajogai talukas in the district. "A stone-pelting incident took place in Majalgaon but there is no report of anyone getting injured," Superintendent of Police Nandkumar Thakur said. Other police officials said a peaceful road blockade was organised by protesters in Gevarai, where, incidentally, two buses were set on fire on Friday night.

This led to buses from Parli being taken off the route on Saturday as a precautionary measure, they added. Around 40 policemen were injured and several buses set on fire during the violence that erupted in Jalna on Friday. Around 360 persons have been booked for alleged involvement in the untoward incidents, police there said.