Protesters damaged public buses in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane and Navi Mumbai during a bandh called in support of a demand for reservation for Marathas on Wednesday. The bandh was called off later in the day.

Bandh called off

Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation demanding reservation for the Maratha community in jobs and education, called off the bandh just before 3 p.m. “We only wanted to prove that we are together and proved it. We never wanted protests to get violent and, therefore, we are calling off our bandh in Mumbai for today,” Virendra Pawar, leader of the Morcha, told reporters.

Roads blocked

The bandh, called by by the Maratha Kranti Morcha, saw roads being blocked across the Mumbai metropolitan region. Protesters gathered at various part of the city and incidents of blocking of roads were reported at the Eastern Express Highway near the toll naka, Kandivali and Majiwada and Teen Hath Naka in Thane.

Protesters try to block Mumbai-Pune Highway near Vashi Toll Naka, Navi Mumbai, on July 25, 2018. | Photo Credit: Yogesh Mhatre

Nine BEST buses damaged

Nine buses belonging to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) have been damaged at Kurla, Chandivali, Andheri, Kopar Khairane. Protesters resorted to pelting of stones at Kopar Khairane around 5 a.m. after which BEST suspended its services to Vashi and Airoli.

Rail services face temporary disruption

Protesters also tried to block rail services across the city. A few of them stopped trains on the fast track towards Churchgate at Jogeshwari at 9.16 a.m. However, they were removed from the track and the services resumed at 9.24 a.m.

Protesters attempted to stop trains at Thane and Ghansoli around 10 a.m. According to Central Railway (CR), the situation was resolved by 10.30 a.m. All train services are running as of now.