Maval police firing case: 47 protesters arrested

Seven months after Maval firing incident in which three farmers were killed and nine were injured when police fired upon protesters, Pune rural police has arrested 47 persons for attacking the police.

Judicial Magistrate (first class) of Vadgaon Maval, Ashwini Lokhande, remanded the arrested farmers to judicial custody till April 12 on Saturday.

Last week, the Bombay high court had rapped the state government for slow probe.

Shankar Jadhav, deputy superintendent of police (Lonavla sub division) said, "We had issued notices to some farmers on March 26, under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. We have arrested 47 for alleged involvement in the attack on police personnel."

The Pune rural police had opened fire on agitators on Pune-Mumbai expressway during the `Maval bandh' called by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena- Republican Party of India and Bharat Kisan Sangh against Rs-400 crore pipeline project of the Pimpri-Chichwad Municipal Corporation.

"There are 50-55 more persons who were involved in the attack. We are trying to identify them with the help of video footage of the incident," Jadhav added.

On the police's side, two officers and six constables are facing a criminal case in connection with the firing. The probe is not over yet.

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