Bandh called in Pune; protests in state against attack on Pawar

Protests erupted across Maharashtra in Thursday following the attack on Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in Delhi and NCP has called a bandh in Pune, Sangli and Beed districts tomorrow to protest the assault on its chief.

"We have asked those who love Pawar saheb to observe the bandh. We won't compel anyone," Rajpal said. "The bandh will be peaceful," Pune city NCP chief Vandana Chavan said.

Bandh call for tomorrow has also been given in Beed and Sangli districts by local NCP functionaries.

After news about the assault on Pawar, who was slapped by a Sikh youth claiming to protest price rise and corruption, spread, NCP activists took to the streets in large numbers to express their anger and denounce the attack on their 71-year-old party president.

Protesters held demonstrations on roads in Mumbai, resulting in traffic snarls at several places. Suburban rail services were disrupted for a few minutes after NCP workers squatted on the tracks at Masjid Bunder and Kurla stations.

They were quickly dispersed and train services were restored, said rail police.

Raod traffic was held up in various places like Mulund, Eastern Express Highway, Vikhroli, Mahim, Byculla and Saath Rasta, police said.

NCP workers forced shop-owners to down their shutters in Sion, Dadar, Worli, Antop Hill, Shivaji Park and Kandivali areas.

Mumbai police said several NCP workers were rounded up to control the situation. They were let go once the situation was under control.

In adjoining Navi Mumbai, the agro produce market closed in protest.

Three stone-pelting incidents were reported in Osmanabad and Nashik cities in which two public transport buses and a lorry were damaged.

Window panes of a state transport bus was damaged in Osmanabad whereas a bus and a lorry were damaged during stone-pelting by NCP workers, police said.

NCP workers blocked vehicular traffic at Trimbak Road and Kalwan in Nashik district to protest the attack on their party chief.

In Baramati, Pawar's native place in Pune district, traders observed a spontaneous bandh. Party activists staged 'rasta roko' on highways around Pune. Traffic on busy Pune-Mumbai Expressway was temporarily affected as a result of the protest, police said.

Protests by NCP workers were also witnessed in Solapur.