Team of 40 volunteers has been speaking to auto rickshaw drivers based in Hadapsar, whose property was damaged in the riots that broke out after photos of Shivaji and Bal Thackeray uploaded on Facebook offended some people

The Pune wing of Aam Aadmi Party is expected to meet the auto rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers who lost their assets in the riots that erupted after photos of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Bal Thackeray uploaded on Facebook were deemed offensive by a section of the population last week.



Aam Aadmi Party District Committee member, Abha Mulay, said that party volunteers have submitted a plea to District Collector Saurabh Rao on Saturday, asking him to look into the case, and had demanded immediate action against those responsible for rioting. PIC/Mohan Patil



Aam Aadmi Party District Committee member, Abha Mulay, said that party volunteers have submitted a plea to District Collector Saurabh Rao on Saturday, asking him to look into the case, and had demanded immediate action against those responsible for rioting. Pic/Mohal Patil



In the past few days, a team of around 40 AAP volunteers has been doing groundwork in Hadapsar area, where auto rickshaws and some bakeries were ransacked by angry mobs.



“Instead of conducting protests or holding rallies, our volunteers are assessing the financial and material losses incurred by the auto rickshaw drivers when stones were pelted at them in Hadapsar. We will also keep tabs on whether the administration compensates the losses faced by shopkeepers whose shops were ransacked by the mob,” said Abha Mulay, AAP Pune district committee member.



She added that the party volunteers had also submitted a plea to District Collector Saurabh Rao on Saturday, asking him to look into the matter. They have demanded immediate action against those responsible for rioting.



AAP volunteer Deepak Tawari, who has been working in Hadapsar for the past few days, said that the party was also planning to conduct a sadbhavana sabha to encourage religious harmony in Hadapsar next week.



“This is not for political mileage but to genuinely help the people who suffered injuries or financial loss due to the unpleasant incidents in the city last week,” said Tawari. Asgar Beg, an auto driver and AAP volunteer from Hadapsar who has mapped out the survey work in the area, said that around four auto rickshaws were damaged and the party volunteers were assessing their financial losses.

“I went to meet an auto rickshaw driver who was injured in the riot; reaching his home, I found that he had already left Hadapsar, and gone back to his village in Vidarbha,” Beg said.