In unprecedented and ironic move, the Navghar police have registered an offence against 15 office bearers and workers of the local Maharashtra Nav-Nirman Sena (MNS) unit for creating ruckus and manhandling on-duty security personnel while staging a mock funeral at the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) headquarters in Bhayandar to register their protest against the civic and police administration for going soft on those responsible for the drowning death of 11-year-old Granth Hasmukh Mutha (11) in the civic swimming pool of the sports complex in Bhayandar on Sunday.
Based on a complaint filed by Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) guard- Suraj Sawant, a FIR under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for using criminal force against a public servant, rioting and unlawful assembly was registered against MNS leaders-Sachin Popley, Robert Dsouza, Abhinandan Chavhan, Surya Pawar, Hemant Sawant and 10 others on Tuesday night. A resident of Mahadev Heights in the Planetaria Complex of Bhayandar (west), Granth had drowned while learning to swim in the pool during a summer camp organized by a private agency roped in by the Saahas Charitable Trust which has been hired by the civic administration to run the sports complex.
Mock Funeral MNS |
11-Year-old Boy Drowns in MBMC-owned Swimming Pool |
Initially an accidental death report (ADR) was registered. However, the boy’s father-Hasmukh Mutha blamed sheer negligence and apathy towards providing trained life guards and proper life-saving arrangements which according to him led to the tragedy, following which an offence for negligence causing death was registered against four instructors.
The police have mysteriously shied away from naming the actual culprits who operated and managed the sports complex under the aegis of the trust which invited the ire of the MNS workers who demanded immediate arrest of all those responsible for Granth’s death. “If demanding justice for an innocent child who lost his life due to negligence is a crime, we will continue doing it. It's ironic that the The MBMC and the police acted swiftly to register a FIR against us but the killers are still roaming free.” said an MNS leader.
It has been alleged that sub-contracts had been illegally doled out in violation of rules for passing monetary benefits and please politically backed party workers.
