Maratha quota stir: Senior cop visits violence-hit Beed; 99 people held so far

Mumbai: Maharashtra's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Saxena has visited Beed district to take stock of the situation after large scale violence there during the Maratha quota agitation, an official said on Wednesday.

So far, 99 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in Beed and the situation is currently under control, he said.

Senior IPS officer Saxena went to Beed on Tuesday and has been reviewing the situation. He will also submit a report about the situation to the government, the official said.

The Beed police have registered more than 30 offences and arrested 99 people so far in connection with the violence, he said.

Curfew was imposed and Internet services were suspended in central Maharashtra's Beed district after the violence on Monday.

The residence of Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar group) MLA Prakash Solanke at Majalgaon town in Beed was set on fire and stones were hurled at it by a group of quota agitators on Monday morning.

The group also set ablaze a car parked at the residence after an audio clip of the MLA, in which he purportedly spoke about the Maratha quota agitation and made a veiled comment on quota activist Manoj Jarange who is on an indefinite fast, went viral.

Later, the protesters set ablaze the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building.

Another group of protesters barged into the residential premises and office of NCP MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar in Beed city and set them on fire on Monday evening.

The residence of former Maharashtra minister Jaydutt Kshirsagar in the city was also torched.

Police fired tear gas shells to disperse a mob that had gathered outside the residence of NCP leader Amarsingh Pandit.