Authorities have suspended mobile internet services in Navi Mumbai on Thursday after protests by Maratha outfits turned violent in some areas the previous day, PTI reported, quoting an unidentified police official. The situation in Kopar Khairane area is still tense, the official said.
Representatives from Airtel and Reliance Jio confirmed to Scroll.in that they had shut down mobile data services after a government order. Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale declined to comment while his office said it had no information about the order. The Navi Mumbai police control room and the Raigad collector office also denied having issued any such order.
The protestors were demanding reservations for the Maratha community in government jobs and education. The police resorted to teargas shells and baton-charge to disperse protestors in Kopar Khairane on Wednesday evening after some of them threw stones at vehicles and clashed with local people. Some protestors had also set a police outpost on fire.
These incidents took place after the protesting outfits had called off the shutdown, citing incidents of violence in Mumbai. The protestors had attacked public buses, blocked local trains, pelted stones, set ablaze tyres and forced shops to close during the shutdown in and around Mumbai on Wednesday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the government has taken note of the protests and was ready to talk to the Maratha community.
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