Ahead of Fadnavis swearing-in, three cops injured during stone-pelting in Maharashtra's Thane; four detained

Thane: An officer and two constables of the Mumbai police were injured after some members of the notorious Irani gang, including women, hurled stones at a team of security personnel in Maharashtra's Thane district, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Wednesday night in Ambivli are where a team from the Andheri police station in Mumbai had gone to apprehend a suspect involved in a criminal case, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone III-Kalyan, Atul Zende, said.

A team from the MIDC police station in Mumbai's Andheri had gone to Ambivli to apprehend a suspect involved in a criminal case. They took him into custody, but he managed to escape after the stone pelting, the police said.

"Around 9.30 pm on Wednesday, a Mumbai police's team went to Ambivli to nab Onu Lala Irani, a 20-year accused wanted in a criminal case. But soon after the police took him into custody, a group of persons, including women, gathered near the Ambivli railway station and started hurling stones at the cops," an official said.

A police officer was injured in the stone-pelting, while two constables suffered minor wounds, he said.

The miscreants allegedly associated with the Irani gang indulged in heavy stone pelting, in which railway property, including its ticket booking office, got damaged, he added.

A complaint lodged by one of the injured police personnel said the accused hurled stones at them with the intention of killing their team members and freeing the accused from their custody.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Khadakpada police station in Kalyan division and it was later transferred to the Kalyan unit of the Government Railway Police (GRP) as the incident took place on the Ambivli railway station premises, the police official said.

Around 35 persons, most of them women, from the Irani Basti locality near the Ambivli railway station, have been booked in this connection. While four of them have been detained so far, efforts are on nab others, he said.

The case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections, including attempt to murder, assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of duty, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly, and resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person, along with the provisions of the Railways Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act, the official said, adding that the Kalyan GRP is probing the incident.

Members of the notorious Irani gang are accused of being involved in several crimes, including chain-snatching and burglaries, police said.