While police search for Kalyan rioters they meet Fadnavis

Mumbai: While the Thane police claims that Chainu Jadhav and Mathur Mhatre, who were named in its first information report (FIR) as the two main accused who orchestrated the Thursday rioting at Kalyan’s Nevale, are still on the run, it has emerged that the duo allegedly met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday. They met the CM along with Thane’s guardian minister Eknath Shinde.

Confirming the meeting, a Thane police officer who is supervising the probe, said, “We have learnt that Chainu Jadhav and Mathur Mhatre had met the CM on Saturday along with other politicians.” On being asked if the police had prior information about the meeting, the officer said, “No, we did not have any prior information. We are doing our best to nab them but they are changing their locations.”   

“On Saturday, I proposed to the CM to mediate in the ongoing dispute in Nevale citing the injustice meted out to the farmers. The chief minister was given application seeking justice to the farmers and also to find a solution to the issue at Nevale which would
be in favour of all concerned,” stated a release issued by Eknath Shinde, Thane’s guardian minister.

While the meeting took place, there is little clarity on what unfolded during the meet and what Jadhav and Mathur may have said during the meeting. Mr Fadnavis was unavailable for a comment on the same when The Asian Age attempted to contact him. Jadhav is the sarpanch of Nevale village, which saw the maximum violence on Thursday when a mob of around 2,000 villagers took on the police and thrashed them. The agitation was sparked over the Navy’s erection of a fencing wall around 1,700-acre land belonging to it where it is seeking to redevelop a British-era airstrip. The violence had left 12 policemen and 15 villagers injured. The police had resorted to pellet-firing and baton charge.    

Besides Nevale, Bhal, Khoni and Rawal Pada villages also witnessed violence at the hands of villagers who torched six vehicles and also damaged several others.

Apart from Jadhav and Mhatre, a Vilas Patil has also been named as main accused in the FIR registered by the police.

“Jadhav is an influential figure not only in Nevale (where he is a sarpanch) but also in the other villages that witnessed violence and are located within a radius of three kilometres. The probe hints towards Jadhav along with Mhatre and Patil as main conspirators who chalked down the plan of attack,” said an officer of Thane police.

The police’s combing operation is still underway and the officials have detained at least 30 persons in connection with the attack and are questioning them.

The attackers also molested two women constables. However, those who did that are yet to be found.

“We are scanning the CCTV footage along with the videos and pictures shot by policemen during the incident to identify the attackers. We are subjecting the detainees to verification based on that and those who are identified will be arrested,” said Pratap Dighavkar, additional commissioner of police, Thane city.  

The Thane police will soon send a report to the state on the Nevale riots case with details of the investigation and roles of the accused.