The Mumbai Police on Sunday issued orders extending duty hours of all police station personnel till further notice, in light of the fact that rebel Shiv Sena MLAs might start returning to Mumbai from Monday.
The State has been thrown into political upheaval ever since senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde went missing and later resurfaced in Guwahati with several rebels. As the days passed, more and more MLAs were seen joining him in Guwahati, while on the ground, the grassroots level Shiv Sainiks were seem angrier with each passing day. Protests and incidents of law and order disturbance were also reported in several areas of Maharashtra.
On Sunday, reports started coming in that the MLAs might start coming back to Mumbai from Monday. Although the police do not have any official confirmation of this yet, preparations have already begun to ensure that no matter what happens, the city’s law and order should not not be disrupted.
“We have extended duty hours of all personnel attached to police stations from eight hours to 12 hours till further notice. Bandobast has already been deployed all across the city and will stay in place over the next few days,” said Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Sanjay Latkar.
Latkar denied reports of leaves of all police personnel being cancelled, saying that no such orders had been issued.
The police, however, have already secured the area outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as well as all roads leading from there into the city.
Police stations around the airport have been notified to be extra careful and the Mumbai Police are in touch with the airport authorities as well as the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Additionally, police stations also got in touch with political party workers from all parties and are advising them to not take the law into their hands for any reason. The focus of these meetings is two-pronged, with emphasis on the ground as well as on social media.
“On Sunday, we met party workers and asked them to exercise restraint if and when the MLAs started returning to Mumbai. Especially since there have already been sporadic incidents of damage to property. They have been warned that strict action will be taken against any offenders,” an officer with the South Region police, who was present at one of these meetings on Sunday, said.
Another officer posted in suburban Mumbai said that the party workers have also been asked to think before they post anything on social media.
“Content posted on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook can contribute towards swinging the mood of the people, and this risk is all the more intense when unverified content is posted. We have asked political party workers to not post any content that they have not personally verified, as well as to watch their words while expressing their own opinions. We have made them aware of the legal repercussions that they might face if their social media content leads to any incidents,” the officer said.
