Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said strict action will be taken against the guilty in the Aurangabad riots and that an Additional Director General (ADG)-level rank officer will probe the incident. A delegation of legislators from the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the MIM met Fadnavis last night to hand over the “proofs” of the alleged involvement of Shiv Sena workers and police personnel in the Aurangabad riots. “I have assured the delegation that an inquiry will be conducted by an Additional Director General (law and order) and those involved in the incident will not be spared, irrespective of their caste, religion or party,” the chief minister said.
MIM MLAs Imtiyaz Jaleel and Waris Pathan, Congress’ Amin Patel and Shaikh Asif, and Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Asim Azmi called on the CM at his official residence ‘Varsha’ around 11.30 pm on Tuesday to hand over the “proofs”. Fadnavis said he also assured the MLAs that the innocents who suffered in the riots will be compensated as per the norms. “Strict action will be taken if any complacency is found in the administrative action,” Fadnavis said.
MIM legislator Imtiyaz Jaleel said the chief minister also assured the delegation that a commissioner of police (CP) for Aurangabad will be announced within 72 hours. The state government had in March sent Yashasvi Yadav, who was then serving as the Aurangabad CP, on compulsory leave, over the police’s “high-handedness” during the protest over dumping of garbage on the city’s outskirts.
Since then, Inspector General (IG) Milind Bharambe was handling the additional charge of Aurangabad. Jaleel said the delegation submitted a video evidence of “senior Sena leaders instigating the rioters and police officers remaining mute spectators.” “We had demanded that an independent agency like the CID probe incident. However, the chief minister assured us that Nitin Bihari, the additional director general (law and order), and his team will conduct a thorough probe,” he said.
Two persons were killed and more than 60 injured in clashes between groups of two communities over illegal water connections in Aurangabad, about 350 km from Mumbai, on May 11. Around 100 shops were set on fire and more than 40 vehicles destroyed in the violence.
