Uddhav Thackeray to lead cop kin delegation to meet Devendra Fadnavis

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has agreed to lead a delegation of families of policemen on September 7 to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to highlight the problems they face. This comes in the aftermath of traffic head constable Vilas Shinde succumbing to head injuries last week at Lilavati Hospital after a brutal attack on him at Khar by two youths on August 23.

Earlier, a delegation of family members of policemen called on Sena president Uddhav Thackeray at his residence, Matoshree, on Sunday to apprise him of the problems they and members of their family in the police force are facing.

Earlier this year during the budget session in March, Mr Fadnavis had informed the Legislative Assembly that 202 cases of assault on policemen were registered in 2014 and 284 cases were registered in 2015. This year alone, there have been three major cases in the state. In February this year a mob attacked police at Pangaon in Latur. In the same month a Sena activist, Shashikant Kalgude, was later arrested for assaulting a lady traffic constable after she pulled him up for talking on phone while driving his four-wheeler in Thane. On August 23, Shinde was brutally assaulted by two youths at Khar for having pulled one of them for not wearing a helmet. He succumbed to his head injuries a week later.

In 2009 a petition was filed by Sakharam Yadawade, police constable in the Bombay high court urging the Director General of Police and state government to allow forming association for constabulary level policemen like constables, police naiks, sepoys, assistant police inspectors and sub-inspectors. However, in August 1997 the DGP had rejected a similar such application. It may be recalled that following the Police Mutiny in August 1982, the government has banned police from forming any association. Then on August 19, about 9,500 of the 22,000 policemen in the force had rebelled over the issue of better working conditions. The government then had to deploy the Indian Army to restore normalcy.

The government banned the Maharashtra Police Karmachari Sanghatna. About 22 policemen were arrested and 92 others were dismissed from service. On February 14, 1986 the Bombay high court bench of Justice C.P. Madon had dismissed a petition filed by Shivaji Atmaji Sawant, a constable posted at Bandra police station over their dismissal from service.