Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said his government would take strict action against those who broke the law during the Dalit protests that have rocked the state over the past two days.
Saying that CCTV footage is being scanned, the CM warned that anyone found involved in the Bhima-Koregaon incident that led to Wednesday’s statewide bandh would not be spared.
Without naming Gujarat MLA and Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani, who was in the state recently, Fadnavis said that people from outside make statements which bring two communities against each other, and that the people of Maharashtra would keep such people at bay since they want development, not communal tension.
Mevani had been invited to speak at a function to mark the 200th anniversary of a battle at Bhima-Koregaon in which Dalits fighting for the British defeated the upper caste-led army of the Peshwas, who were Brahmins.
Fadnavis said the government would set up a committee for judicial inquiry under a sitting judge of High Court.
Fadnavis also called for restraint on both sides, saying “I appeal to people of the state that please do not make any statement which would bring two communities against each other.”
