Marathas launch 'jail-bharo' agitation in Mumbai
Mumbai, Aug 1 : Over 100 Maratha activists staged a noisy 'jail-bharo' agitation at Azad Maidan here on Wednesday, marking the intensified phase of their ongoing fortnight-long campaign for job quotas for the community.
Maratha Kranti Morcha city convenor Virendra Pawar said the agitation in Mumbai was a success and protests were also underway in other parts of the state including Nashik, Parbhani, Solapur and Kolhapur.
Thousands of activists marched to the Azad Maidan in the morning shouting slogans demanding Maratha quotas in government jobs and education. They later courted arrest and were whisked away in police vans.
Activists blocked a portion of the busy Pune-Solapur highway near Kondi and the Aurangabad-Jalna highway as part of the agitation, disrupting traffic and leading to massive traffic jams in both directions.
A large number of Marathas demonstrated outside the residence of Latur Guardian Minister Sambhaji Patil-Nilangekar and raised slogans demanding immediate announcement of quotas for the community.
In Aurangabad, a few Maratha activists tonsured their heads as a mark of protest against the government amidst heightened security in all parts of the state.
From August Kranti Day, August 9, the Maratha groups will unleash protests all over the state. The demonstrators will converge in Mumbai and launch a siege of Mantralaya, the state government headquarters in Nariman Point, Pawar added.
Today's planned jail-bharo stir came after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that the government would announce Maratha quotas after following the due process of law to ensure it stands legal scrutiny and without affecting existing quotas for other communities.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
