Six buses were set on fire during the Maratha community’s movement for quota in the Jalna district of Maharashtra on Friday evening, according to sources close with the situation. One of the vehicles was a Karnataka government transport carrying 45 passengers.
The agitators stopped the Karnataka bus, which was traveling from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, to Hubballi, Karnataka. They then forced the crew and passengers to get off the bus before torching it and throwing rocks at it. “When both cars stopped, our bus was following a Maharashtra bus headed towards Lathur. The buses were set on fire after the passengers were forced to disembark. If we didn’t agree with their demands, a crowd of 200–300 people who halted our bus threatened to burn us and the vehicle on fire. In order to save our lives, we were obligated to do what they demanded, according to bus driver LL Lamani of the Ramdurga neighborhood of Belagavi.
Manoj Jarange from the Antarwali Sarati taluk in the Jalna district began an indefinite fast on August 29 in an effort to win Maratha community reservations in employment and education. About 150 villages, including 130 along the Godavari river’s banks in Bid district, participated in a march on Friday night in support of Jarange’s protest.
Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, tried to contact Jarange on Friday as his condition worsened and pleaded with him to break the fast but received no answer. An official with knowledge of the situation stated, “Problems escalated when the police attempted to forcibly take Jarange to the hospital, resulting in physical altercations and injuries to both civilians and the police.”
Ganesh Rathod, senior divisional controller of North West Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (NWKSRTC) in Belagavi, said that after being moved to state buses operated by Karnataka, passengers from the burnt bus were transported to safer destinations on other Maharashtra government buses. The department and its Maharashtra equivalent are in frequent contact with the safety of all Karnataka buses operating in Maharashtra. Bus services to the districts of Aurangabad and Jalna, however, have momentarily been suspended, he said.
More than 300 buses are operated daily to Maharashtra by the divisions of Belagavi, Hubballi, Vijayapur, Bagalkot, and Chikkodi, along with various depots. Because of the demonstrations, fewer people traveled to the nearby Kolhapur, Solhapur, Sangli, and Ichalkaranji, according to Rathod.
Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, said that the police were in danger of losing their lives if the crowd wasn’t dispersed. If things get out of hand, the police are only to use light force to ensure no significant injury is done. The police action did not result in any significant injuries, although 12 police officers, including 2 of them, were hurt.
