Beed (Maharashtra): Protests demanding Maratha quota in Maharashtra's Beed district spiralled out of control on Monday as two MLAs' houses and other property were torched by mobs.
Protesters set on fire the residence and office of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar. This came shortly after NCP MLA Prakash Solanke's car and residence in Beed district were set on fire and stones were hurled at it on Monday amid fresh violence over the demand for Maratha quota.
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.
After the arson at the legislator's home, a group of Maratha reservation activists dispersed from there and later set ablaze the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building and vandalised it, a police official said. The group, armed with wooden sticks and stones, first damaged the window panes of the building.
The vandals them went on the first floor of the building and torched it, burning down the furniture there, said the official. Fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and doused the flames, the official said, adding there were no casualties.
Beed Superintendent of Police Nand Kumar Thakur said, "The mob that torched the residence of Prakash Solanke later moved to the municipal council of Majalgaon. They torched the first floor of the municipal council building. Police teams that quickly reached the civic office took people out well in time so there was no injury to anyone."
A company of the State Reserve Police Force (around 100 personnel) has been requisitioned to maintain law and order in Beed district, he said. "Pro-quota protests are going on at three to four locations in Beed district as of now," Thakur said.
Police are scanning the CCTV footage of the area to identify the persons involved in torching the municipal council building and process was on to register an offence against them, he said. Meanwhile, a group of Maratha quota activists barged into the residential premises and office of NCP MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar in Beed city and set them on fire in the evening, another official said.
Given the law and order situation in Beed, the administration ordered a curfew in the district. Beed Collector Dipa Mudhol Munde has given orders in this regard. 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
It is pertinent to mention that Jalna-based activist Manoj Jarange-Patil Manoj Jarange has continued his hunger strike for the sixth consecutive day for Maratha reservation. However, since no concrete decision has been taken by the state government, there has been a ripple effect of the agitation across the state. The agitation, as a result, turned violent in the Beed district.
Also read: Maratha quota: Hunger strike protests across Maharashtra from Oct 29, says Manoj Jarange
