Maharashtra: House of NCP MLA torched amid protest for Maratha quota demand
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (PTI): The residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Prakash Solanke in Maharashtra's Beed district was set on fire and stones were hurled at it on Monday amid fresh violence over the demand for Maratha quota, police said.
A group of people also set ablaze a car parked at the residence of Solanke located in Majalgaon after an audio clip of the MLA in which he purportedly spoke about the Maratha quota agitation and made a veiled comment on the fasting quota activist Manoj Jarange went viral.
It is not clear whether the Majalgaon MLA, who belongs to the NCP faction led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, was present inside the residence at the time of the incident which occurred at around 11 AM.
"The incident occurred after an audio clip of MLA Solanke about the Maratha reservation issue went viral. A bandh was called locally. The house of the MLA and a car were torched by some people and stones were also hurled," the official told PTI.
In the audio clip, Solanke was purportedly heard saying that "the issue (the demand for reservation and the ultimatum of 40 days given to the government for its implementation by October 24) has become a child's game.
"The person, who has not even contested a gram panchayat election, has become a smart person today," he said in an apparent dig at Jarange.
Members of the Maratha community have been staging protests seeking reservation in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
The agitation intensified after Jarange sat on an indefinite fast from October 25 at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district as part of the second phase of the protest
Solanke told a news channel that he was in Majalgaon when the incident occurred.
"Agitators surrounded my residence from all sides and nobody was in the mood to listen. Stones were thrown at my house and vehicles were also set on fire. I stand with the demand for the Maratha reservation. I have won the elections four times with the help of the Maratha community and I am a Maratha MLA," he said.
#WATCH | Beed, Maharashtra: Maratha reservation agitators vandalised and set the residence of NCP MLA Prakash Solanke on fire. pic.twitter.com/8uAfmGbNCI
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2023
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Car catches fire on Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan, five of family burnt alive
Jaipur (PTI): Five members of a family were burnt alive while the driver was seriously injured after a car caught fire on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan's Alwar district, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place near Maujpur on Wednesday night when the victims were returning from a pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir.
Additional Superintendent of Police Priyanka Raghuvanshi said fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze was brought under control in 15 minutes, but by then the car was completely gutted.
The deceased have been identified as Santosh, his wife Shashi, mother Parvati and daughters Raghani and Sakshi, all residents of Chainpura in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Kailash Jindal said a short circuit is suspected to have triggered the blaze. As it was a CNG vehicle, the fire spread fast, leaving the occupants with no time to escape.
"Only skeletal remains were recovered from the vehicle, which have been preserved separately. DNA tests will be conducted to establish their identity," he said.
The car driver, identified as Vinod Kumar Mehar, managed to jump out of the vehicle but sustained around 80 per cent burn injuries. He was initially taken to a nearby health centre and later referred to Jaipur for advanced treatment, officials said.
Further investigation is underway.
