Maratha quota stir turns violent in Maharashtra, policeman hurt

A policemen and two others were injured as the campaign for a Maratha quota turned violent here even as protests were held in different parts of Maharashtra by the Maratha Kranti on Tuesday.

A large number of protestors torched a fire brigade vehicle near Kaigaon in Aurangabad district where a 28-year-old, Kakasaheb Dattatreya Shinde, committed suicide by jumping in the Godavari river on Monday evening demanding reservations.

The repercussions of Shinde's death were felt in different parts of the state with spontanious shutdowns, road and rail blockades, processions and stray incidents of arson on Tuesday.

A fire brigade vehicle was torched in Aurangabad and a police jeep was set ablaze in Hingoli even as the issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut.

All major political parties including Congress' Ashok Chavan and Sachin Sawant, Nationalist Congress Party's Jitendra Awhad and others have urged the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government to resolve the issue of Maratha reservations expeditiously.

Various Maratha groups have announced a Maharashtra shutdown on August 9 - celebrated as August Kranti Day - to intensify the agitation going on since nearly two years.

--IANS

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