04 January,2015 07:11 AM IST | | Vedika Chaubey
Four of those arrested by the Diva railway police are Dombivli residents; Railway Police Force (RPF) and Mumbra police arrest an additional 35 rioteers
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On Saturday, the Diva railway police arrested four people from Dombivli, while the Railway Police Force (RPF) and Mumbra police arrested 35 locals who damaged railway property and participated in the riots after services at Diva station came to a standstill. The arrested are Amol Salunkhe (32, Karjat resident), Abhishek Khande (30, Dombivli resident), Milind Hariya (25, Dombivli resident) and Vicky Sequeira (22, Ambivli). They were produced in court on Saturday and will be in police custody till tomorrow.
The Diva railway police continued to investigate Friday's riots and search operations for those who damaged railway property are underway.
Rail disruption: The real reason behind the chaos at Diva station
The police sent three crime teams to nab commuters seen in the CCTV camera footage and other photographs.
Ajay Kumar Singh, chief security commissioner, RPF, CR, said, "We are in liaison with the police, the GRP and intelligence agencies and are trying to identify more miscreants who indulged in rioting, arson and damaged rail coaches and other vehicles. We are scanning CCTV footage and mobile clips taken by public and the RPF. We are also verifying backgrounds of those we have arrested to understand their intentions better. Tough legal action will be taken against the perpetrators." More than 16,000 people were present at the time of the riots.
(From top) A vehicle damaged during the riots; some of the accused arrested by the police; the police resort to lathi charge to control the mob; many at Diva were injured in stone-pelting
Most of the accused arrested for damaging railway property fall in the age group of 18-25 years. "People pelted stones and senior officials from the railways and police were targeted," said a central railway official on condition of anonymity. The bodyguards of RPF's divisional security commissioner, Alok Bohra and GRP's commissioner Dr Ravinder Singal were injured during the stone pelting. "I hid behind a fence at Diva station, otherwise I would have been in the hospital. The miscreants threw stones for a long time," said Bohra, whose bodyguard sustained an ear injury.
