Cops ask collector’s office to recover 2.7crore damages

MUMBAI: The crime branch probing the rioting at Azad Maidan has asked the collector’s office to start recovering the damages of that evening.
According to a source, the day a group of protesters, who had gathered for a rally at Azad Maidan and went on the rampage, properties worth Rs 2.74 crore were vandalized and the police have held Ahmed Raza the founder member of a group, Madinatulilm, responsible for the act.
“On record, it was Raza who had sought permission for the use of the Azad Maidan ground for the rally. So he is responsible for the vandalizing, though two community leaders gave provocative speeches that sparked the rioting and a few others gathered the crowd,” said an officer. Best buses, police vans, media vehicles and private vehicles were among those damaged. Additional commissioner of police Niket Kaushik said, “We have intimated the losses to the collector’s office, which will issue notices to the rally organizers for the recovery of the damages.”
The rally, which went awry, was being held to protest against alleged atrocities against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar.
On Friday, the police grilled Ahmed and Rizwan Khan alias Dayawan for spreading propaganda about the alleged violence and gathering more crowd at the maidan than could be accommodated there.
The sessions court has granted bail to 14 accused arrested in the rioting, taking the total number of people released on bail to 19. The bail came just two days before the police were supposed to file the chargesheet in the case.
The Bombay high court was likely to soon pass an order on the bail application of Salim Chaukiya, who was seen running away with a police rifle, and Faizal Hussain Shaikh, who was seen setting fire to a media van, said their advocate Mahesh Vaswani.