Maratha Quota Stir: Internet Services Suspended in Navi Mumbai

The decision was taken in the wake of the situation in areas like Kopar Khairane, which witnessed violence during the Maratha quota agitation yesterday, a police official said.

Mumbai: Internet services in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai township have been suspended since early today, a police official said.

The decision was taken in the wake of the situation in areas like Kopar Khairane, which witnessed violence during the Maratha quota agitation yesterday, he said. The situation in Kopar Khairane was still tense, the official added.

Last evening, the police had lobbed teargas shells and used baton-charge in Kopar Khairane area after a group of protesters pelted stones at vehicles and clashed with local people and indulged in arson. Miscreants had also set fire to a police outpost.

The incidents took place after the Maratha organisations, seeking reservations in government jobs and education, had called off the bandh.

A group of protesters who were returning home last night had hurled stones at vehicles of local people in Kopar Khairane, a police official earlier said. Later, some members of local communities had gathered at the spot and clashed with protesters, he said.

The mob then hurled stones in which some offices and shops were damaged. They also set fire to a police outpost near D-Mart supermarket in sector six. Five to six cars and over a dozen two-wheelers parked in front of the outpost were also vandalised and torched.

A hotel was also set on fire in sector three, the official added.