Dalit group withdraws Maharashtra bandh after a day of disruption

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh President Prakash Ambedkar called off its 'Maharashtra Shutdown' which left large parts of Mumbai and rest of the state virtually paralysed for 10 hours since dawn on Wednesday.

"The shutdown was peaceful and has evoked a huge response all over. I thank all my supporters for making it a success," Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, told media persons.

He demanded that the state government should slap murder charges on the perpetrators of the violence and subsequent death of a youth in Koregaon-Bhima incident of January 1.

Ambedkar cited the names of Shivjagar Pratisthan President Sambhaji Bhide Guruji and Hindu Janjagruti Samiti President Milind Ekbote, against whom complaints have been lodged by Pune police.

"They should be arrested and face the same punishment as Yakub Memon (who was accused in the March 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts and subsequently hanged)," Ambedkar demanded.

He said the shutdown action was not only for the Dalit cause but to highlight the plight of the state's downtrodden people and seek justice for them.

With the shutdown call withdrawn, it is expected that normalcy will soon return to Mumbai and Maharashtra by late evening.