Maharashtra: Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis assures strict action in Ahmednagar clashes

Mumbai: Maharashtra Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the Assembly on Thursday that action will be taken against the police if they didn't investigate the alleged communal clashes in Ahmednagar city properly. He was replying to long answered questions (LAQ) raised by BJP MLA Nitesh Rane.

Congress' Balasaheb Thorat objected to the formation and wording of the topic saying that the speaker's office must not encourage an attempt to mention a specific community through Assembly proceedings.

Members belonging to a particular community attacked Dalit basti in Ramwadi area

Giving an LAQ notice to discuss the alleged communal clashes, Rane said that a particular community member attacked Dalit basti in Ramwadi area. “The youth from Dalit community had kept WhatsApp status by changing the name of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar. So a particular community member attacked him for this. This was later spread everywhere and many such incidents happened in the next few days," he said.

Objecting to the LAQ wording, Thorat said, “The mention of specific communities in the paper of Vidhan Bhavan proceedings is happening for the first time. Earlier, when such things would arise, we used to say 'communal conflict'. This is the responsibility of the house to help peace and harmony. The wording is contradictory to the legacy of assembly in handling such issues.”

"I assure that investigation will take place into the matter": Fadnavis

Talking about the issue, Fadnavis said that police are denying the incidents as communal clashes. “But a member of the house has said something here and shown some photos, generally we assume it is true. So I assure that the investigation will take place into the matter. If police fail to bring reality to the fore, we will also take action against them."

BJP MLA Ram Satpute has demanded a probe by the SIT into the issue. But Fadnavis denied saying that police are doing their job.