Attack on cops: Youths try to drown SI; Uddhav raises concern

Mumbai/Thane, Sep 7 (PTI) In the latest in a series ofincidents of attacks on policemen in Maharashtra, four youthsof a Ganesh Utsav mandal allegedly tried to drown asub-inspector in Kalyan township of Thane. Raising the safety of police personnel as a matter ofserious concern, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today metChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, seeking protection to lawenforcers and strict punishment to attackers. Uddhav spelled out his concerns on a day when thepurported video of a policeman being pushed into a lake andfour youths of a local Ganesh Utsav mandal trying to drown himin Kalyan township of Thane district went viral. The youths had earlier objected to being disciplinedby police sub-inspector Niteen Dondu Dagale. During immersion of the Ganpati idols last evening,Dagale (38), attached to Kolsewadi Police Station in Kalyan,was on bandobust duty at Teesgaon Talao of the town. As he was controlling the crowd assembled for theimmersion, some members of Jari Mari Ganesh Utsav mandal, whowere asked to follow the queue system, objected to beingdisciplined and picked up a quarrel with Dagale. Later, the youths allegedly pushed him into the lake.When Dagale struggled to come out of the water, one of theyouths jumped in and again allegedly tried to drown him, buthe managed to save himself by swimming out of the lake, policesaid. The video also showed people indulging in revelry withno one coming to the rescue of the police officer. The Kolsewadi Police has registered offences againstthe four accused under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder),353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant fromdischarge of his duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deterpublic servant from his duty), 186 (obstructing public servantin discharge of public functions) read with 34 (acts done byseveral persons in furtherance of common intention). A manhunt has been launched to nab the youths. The Shiv Sena chief met Fadnavis at his official residenceover the concerns harboured by families of policemen in wakeof the recent attacks on police personnel. The Chief Minister said the government will considerall demands of the families of police personnel. The police families residing in Worli’s BDD chawl hadexpressed their anger over the attack on traffic constableVilas Shinde, who was allegedly beaten up by two youthsfollowing which he succumbed to his injuries on August 31.(MORE) PTI VT CORR GK NMKIS