Mumbai: Over 20 detained during protest by dam project affected people at Mantralaya

29 August,2023 05:01 PM IST |  Mumbai  |  mid-day online correspondent

The protesters shouting slogans and carrying placards at Mantralaya in south Mumbai walked onto the net suspended in the premises, an official said

Video grab of the incident


Over 20 protesters were detained by the Mumbai Police officials on Tuesday after they allegedly walked onto the safety net suspended in the state secretariat Mantralaya in south Mumbai during an agitation staged by people affected by a dam project, police said, reported the PTI.

The protesters shouting slogans and carrying placards walked onto the net suspended in the premises, even as police personnel, including officers, tried to drag them off, an official said, as per the PTI.

A safety net has been suspended in the premises of the Mantralaya to prevent suicides.

The agitation was staged around 3.30 pm by members of an action committee representing people affected by the Upper Wardha dam project at Morshi in Amravati district, the official said.

The protestors demanded an increase in the compensation for land acquired for the dam and sought government jobs for the project-affected people, he said.

More than 20 people were detained by the Marine Drive police during the agitation, the official said.

Earlier, in February this year, the Mumbai Police had detained a woman outside Mantralaya where she had allegedly planned to set herself ablaze, an official had then told news agency PTI.

The police recovered a bottle of petrol and a matchbox from her possession, the official had said.

The woman was apprehended near the secretariat's Garden Gate and taken to Marine Drive police station.

Last year, on March 4, a 60-year-old woman attempted self-immolation by pouring kerosene on herself outside Mantralaya to demand the cancellation of an FIR registered against her.

The woman, a resident of the Vikhroli Parksite area, came to Mantralaya and demanded cancellation of the FIR registered against her at the Parksite police station. According to her, she has been falsely implicated in the case.

"As she felt that she is not getting justice, she poured kerosene and tried to set herself ablaze around 5.30 pm," an official told PTI, adding police personnel, who were posted near Mantralaya, stopped her and took her into custody.

The woman was then taken to the Marine Drive police station, where an FIR for an attempt to suicide under section 309 of IPC was registered against her. After counselling, the woman was allowed to go home.

(with PTI inputs)

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