Maratha quota stir: Curfew, Internet shutdown remain in Maharashtra's Beed

Curfew continued and Internet services remained suspended in central Maharashtra's Beed district on Tuesday though there were no fresh incidents of violence on account of the Maratha quota agitation, a senior official said. Earlier, as many as 49 persons were arrested and curfew was imposed in parts of the district on Monday evening following incidents of violence and arson targeting the houses and offices of political leaders as the quota agitation intensified. The situation was peaceful during the day, district collector Deepa Mudhol Munde told PTI on Tuesday evening.

"There was no fresh protest today. Though the day was peaceful, there is no decision on relaxation of curfew and restoration of the Internet as of now," she said. Curfew has been enforced in a periphery of 5 km from the collector's office, head offices of talukas and along all national highways passing through the district, another official said.

On Monday morning, the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar group) MLA Prakash Solanke at Majalgaon town was set on fire and stones were hurled at it by a group of quota agitators.

The group also set ablaze a car parked at the residence after an audio clip of the MLA, in which he purportedly spoke about the Maratha quota agitation and made a veiled comment on quota activist Manoj Jarange who is on an indefinite fast, went viral.

Later, the protesters set ablaze the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building.

Another group of protesters barged into the residential premises and office of NCP MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar in Beed city and set them on fire on Monday evening.

The residence of former Maharashtra minister Jaydutt Kshirsagar in the city was also torched.

Police fired tear gas shells to disperse a mob that had gathered outside the residence of NCP leader Amarsingh Pandit.