MNS workers storm govt office amid rage over pothole deaths

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, July 16

Five activists of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have been arrested for ransacking the offices of Maharashtra's public works department (PWD) at Turbhe in Navi Mumbai.

According to the police the five were staging a protest over the large number of potholes on the roads maintained by the department.

Video recordings of the incident that went viral on social media showed the five MNS workers smashing a conference hall of the PWD office apart from breaking computers, furniture and other office equipment.

The police have identified the MNS workers as Nitin Khanvilkar, Nitin Chavan, Raju Khade, Vishal Bhilare and Shyam Dhamale.

Unfazed by the arrests MNS leaders say they would carry out similar protests at Mantralaya, the state government's secretariat if the roads were not repaired at the earliest. “The roads are bad despite more than Rs 1,200 crore being spent on the repairs of the Sion-Panvel highway. We will take the protest to Mantralaya if the situation does not improve," MNS leader Sanjay Mhatre told reporters.