Mumbai: Rail services disrupted in Thane, Palghar due to Maharashtra bandh

Mumbai: The Maharashtra shutdown called by some Dalit organisations disrupted suburban train services in Thane and Palghar.

Activists jumped on the railway tracks, shouting slogans and waving flags in order to attempt a rail-blockade at Thane and Virar stations in Palghar.

On the other hand, though many taxi-auto rickshaw unions supported the shutdown, the city`s lifeline, the suburban trains and the BEST (Bombay Electric Supply And Transport) buses services ran near-normally. 

Many shops and establishments were also opened for work as usual in the city and suburbs and there were the familiar crowds on roads and highways.

The shutdown evoked a greater response in mofussil areas compared to urban pockets of Thane, Nagpur, Pune and other cities.

The coastal Konkan region reported a near-total shutdown, as also Dalit strongholds of Marathwada like Beed, Latur, Solapur, Jalgaon, Dhule, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Palghar.

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Meanwhile, the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, a Dalit party headed by Prakash Ambedkar - the grandson of Bharat Ratna BR Ambedkar, on Wednesday called off the bandh. The shutdown had elicited support from various Dalit parties, Leftist parties, some Maratha groups.

The bandh was called to protest the violence that occurred at Bhima-Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2017. Clashes between Dalit groups and supporters of right-wing Hindu organisations during the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in Pune district had left a man dead.

In Pune, cases were registered by the Pimpri police against Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide, who heads the Hindu Ekta Aghadi and Shivraj Pratishthan respectively, for allegedly inciting the violence. The two organisations had opposed the celebration of "British victory" in the battle.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court into the violence. He has also said that a Rs 10 lakh compensation would be given to kin of the youth killed and his death would be probed by the CID.

(With Agency inputs)