It was, reportedly, a petty issue that made the cops, serving their service during bandobast at Mumbai’s Lalbaugh, and the volunteers of Lalbaugh Ganpati Mandal got into a scuffle on Tuesday. The sources reveal that one of the cops present at the spot accidentally brushed one of the volunteers near the cashier area when the verbal fuss took place. Before people could understood it much, the verbal fuss over this meagre issue had turned ugly and the DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) of Zone 3, Abhinash Kumar, took over to face the volunteers. A video of this heated argument was shot by a camera installed nearby which has gone viral now. The video shows DCP Kumar first arguing with the volunteers and subsequently, trying to cross the barricade to nab the volunteers, allegedly, involved in the argument with the top cop. The whole argument carried on for 7 minutes when the two parties were pacified by the other volunteers and the cops.
Another side of the story came to light from Mid-Day who claimed that the scuffle between the two parties took place over volunteers leaving the devotees from the wrong side. We couldn’t hear DCP Kumar but a source could narrate the whole scuffle to a media house. “DCP Abhinash Kumar objected when one of the volunteers allowed devotees in through the wrong end. The volunteers started arguing with DCP Kumar which resulted into a scuffle between the two,” the source said, quoted Mid-Day. The source also added that a Senior Inspector of Byculla police station, Kadam, also got into the scuffle and tried to nab the volunteers in argument with DCP Kumar. It was now the turn for the Lalbaughcha Raja Ganpati Mandal to clarify. “The persons involved in the argument with the cops are not our volunteers. We’re on good terms with the police and have been co-operating with them since day one,” clarified Balasaheb Kamble, President of Lalbaughcha Raja Ganpati Mandal.
No FIR (First Information Report) or NC (Non Cognizance) complaint was lodged by either DCP Kumar or the volunteers of the Ganpati Mandal. Notably, a source confirmed that this kind of scuffle happen almost every year during the Ganpati festival under the influence of festive excitement or other such reasons. Around 1000 police personnels including 11 DCPs are deployed at Lalbaughcha Raja Ganpati Mandal area to avoid any untoward incidents at the spot. Around lakhs of devotees pay their visit at Lalbaughcha Raja Ganpati as it’s considered auspicious. Volunteers and public must understand that Police is available for our own safety and getting into a scuffle with them will only demoralise our police department.
