57 held, over 200 booked for stone-pelting in Mumbai during anti-encroachment drive

Mumbai: The Mumbai police have registered a case against more than 200 people and apprehended 57 of them in connection with the incident of stone-pelting that occurred during the civic body’s anti-encroachment drive in the city’s Powai area two days ago, an official said.

At least 15 police personnel, five civic engineers and an equal number of labourers were injured in the stone-pelting during the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) drive in Jai Bhim Nagar slum on Thursday.

“The police have filed a case against 200 persons and apprehended 57 of them on the charge of obstructing public servants from discharging their duty and rioting in connection with the stone-pelting at police and BMC officials. They were remanded in judicial custody,” the official said on Friday.

The BMC earlier said temporary huts had come up on a plot in Powaigaon and Mauje Tirandaj village and the State Human Right Commission had directed the civic body to take action against these structures.

According to an official, the civic anti-encroachment team had gone there to clear allegedly illegal structures, which number around 400 on an open plot, along with a posse of police personnel for security, but residents started protesting claiming they had been living there for the past 25 years.

A video of the stone-pelting incident went viral on social media. It showed men and women throwing stones and police and civic staff running for cover.