Mumbai: A group of BJP Yuva Morcha activists ransacked the office of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) in South Mumbai on Thursday afternoon for allegedly insulting Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the police said. The Azad Maidan police detained 10 activists of the BJP Yuva Morcha following the incident.
According to a senior police officer, an offence of rioting, unlawful assembly and causing damage to private property has been registered. After the incident, many Congress activists gathered in the premises of the Azad Maidan police station nearby and resorted to sloganeering against the BJP. Most of the Congress activists have also been detained, the police said.
The police officer said that while police personnel were busy with bandobast for the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi’s march led by Prakash Ambedkar, a group of BJP Yuva Morcha activists quietly entered the MRCC office, threw ink on the photographs of prominent political leaders, ransacked the office and broke the glass doors inside.
As the activists did not respond to the police, there was no option but to resort to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd, the officer said. “We were able to disperse the mob only after we resorted to a lathi-charge. So far, we have detained 10 activists of BJP Yuva Morcha,” the officer said.
MRCC president Varsha Gaikwad, MPCC president Nana Patole, former Congress legislature party leader Balasaheb Thorat and former leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar condemned the attack on the MRCC office. Apparently, the BJP Yuva Morcha was provoked by the Congress’ sustained attack against home minister Amit Shah over his remarks on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in Parliament on Tuesday.
“We strongly condemn the attack on the MRCC office by BJP… We were never scared of the British regime, so we are not scared of goons and anti-social elements of BJP,” Patole said in a statement.
