Chaos in funeral procession; 200 booked, 33 arrested

Mumbai Police have booked nearly 200 people and arrested 33 of them for allegedly attacking policemen and damaging vehicles during the funeral procession of a man who committed suicide after being unable to trace his teen daughter, an official said on Wednesday.

Around three police personnel were injured in the attack on Tuesday, he said.

Pancharam Rithadiya, 44, allegedly committed suicide last week by jumping in front of a running train near Tilak Nagar railway station after not being able to find his 17-year- old daughter missing since some months.

In the suicide note, he purportedly mentioned that the police did not help him in tracing his daughter.

During his funeral procession to a crematorium in suburban Chembur on Tuesday, his angry relatives and some other people allegedly pelted stones at the police and also vandalised a police van and some other private vehicles, Additional Commissioner of Police (east region) Lakhmi Gautam told PTI.

The police later lodged an FIR late Tuesday night against nearly 200 people and arrested 33 of them.

"Till now, 33 people have been arrested. We are analysing the CCTV footage and some videos which have gone viral on social media to identify the others involved in the violence," he said.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Maharashtra Police Act.

A police official earlier said some mourners trailing the procession suddenly tried to block the road at Umarshi Bappa Chowk in Chembur.

As the police personnel tried to remove the protesters, some of them ran to a nearby under-construction building and hurled stones, injuring two police constables and an officer of Traffic Police, he said.

Some protesters damaged around four vehicles, including a police van, a taxi, a car, besides 10-12 motorcycles and three auto-rickshaws, he added.