The Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation, had called for the shutdown in Mumbai, the financial heart of the country. Another group, the Sakal Maratha Samaj, had called for a bandh today in Navi Mumbai and Panvel.

"The government has taken cognisance of the protest by Maratha community and has taken several decisions. The government is ready to talk to them. A law was made for reservation to the community, but that was stayed by Bombay High Court," Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.

The protests in Navi Mumbai, roughly 20km off Mumbai, are on. In Kalamboli, one of the key areas of Navi Mumbai, the police had to use batons and teargas to control protesters, who were squatting on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Stones were thrown at two buses in Navi Mumbai. The protesters also forced shops to close in many areas. In Raigadh district's Kamothe, protesters took to the streets, shutting down shops and holding a bike rally.

This morning, protesters blocked Mumbai-bound traffic on Eastern Expressway, one of the busiest and most important roads that is the north-south artery of the city.The Sion Panvel highway was also completely blocked.

Jagannath Sonavne, a third protester who attempted suicide by consuming poison yesterday in Aurangabad's Deogaon Rangari, died in a hospital today.

Posters of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were torn in parts of Thane, near Mumbai. Besides the reservation issue, the Maratha Kranti Morcha is upset with the Chief Minister over his allegation that some members of the community were planning violence during his visit to a temple at Pandharpur town in Solapur district.

The peaceful protests by the Marathas suddenly turned violent on Tuesday after the death of a 28-year-old man, Kakasaheb Dattatreya Shinde, who committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari River on Monday. A second protester made a suicide attempt by jumping off a bridge in Aurangabad and was seriously injured.

One constable died and nine other policemen were injured in stone-throwing as protesters clashed with the police and torched vehicles on Tuesday.