5 buses damaged, 6 persons hurt in stone-pelting as protest for farm pond turns violent

Beed, Oct 14 (PTI) Five buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) were damaged and six persons injured on Tuesday after a group of protesters hurled stones on the 12th day of a local leader's protest seeking a farm pond in Kaij tehsil of Beed district, police said.

The agitation by Rajarshi Rathod was underway at Kordewadi.

As the administration failed to take serious note of the protest, several local residents arrived in Kaij in various vehicles and blocked the road at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk. Former district chief of Shiv Sena (UBT) Ratnakar Shinde, farmer leader Kuldeep Karpe spoke on the occasion.

But some agitators hurled stones at MSRTC buses, damaging some of them. The conductor of a bus and five passengers were injured, a police official said.

The four-and-a-half-hour-long 'rasta roko' caused major disruption to traffic, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

Tension escalated when some protesters, including Bal Raje Aware Patil, poured petrol on themselves and threatened self-immolation. However, police intervened promptly and foiled their attempts.

In a related incident, youth leader Swapnil Mahadev Warpe consumed poison while addressing the crowd through a loudspeaker. Police immediately rushed him to the Kaij sub-district hospital, where doctors provided first aid before referring him to Swami Ramanand Teerth Rural Government Hospital, Ambejogai, for further treatment, a health official said. PTI COR NP