Mumbai, Apr 11 (PTI) Additional Commissioner of Police (special branch) had expressed apprehension that striking MSRTC workers could stage a protest outside NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence in south Mumbai in the letter dated April 4 addressed to

JCP (Law and Order), days ahead of the incident which occurred on April 8.

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The letter addressed to Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil also indicated that a protest could be staged outside "Matoshree", the private residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in suburban Bandra.

The letter mentioned that keeping in mind the Bombay High Court's April 5 judgment on Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation workers, around 1,500 to 1,600 men and women have been visiting the venue of protest at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai and their number is swelling every day.

These people assumed that the HC's judgment will go against them. They had threatened to protest outside the Mantralaya- state secretariat- in south Mumbai on April 4 and at 'Silver Oak'- Pawar's residence located on Pedder Road in south Mumbai- and 'Matoshree' on April 5.

The letter said that if such things happen then it will lead to a law and order situation.

The letter further stated that MSRTC protestors are likely to reach Mumbai in private vehicles from Mulund Check Naka, Dahisar Check Naka and using trains. It suggested the deployment of police personnel at these places.

As the ST workers are firm on their demands and wanted to get them fulfilled at any coast, they can protest at places like Azad Maidan, Mantralaya, 'Matoshree', 'Varsha' bungalow- the official residence of the Maharashtra chief minister, Sahyadri guest house, Transport Minister Anil Parab's residence in Bandra, and the High Court, it said.

A group of striking MSRTC employees had staged a sudden protest outside Pawar's bungalow on Pedder Road on Friday afternoon accusing him of not doing anything to help them.

Mumbai Police arrested over 100 people including the lawyer of striking MSRTC workers, Gunratna Sadavarte.

After Friday's protests outside Pawar's bungalow, DCP (Crime) Nilotpal was deputed as DCP Zone-II. Earlier, the additional charge of the area was handled by DCP Yogesh Kumar (Headquarters-II).

The Pedder Road area where Pawar's bungalow is located falls in the jurisdiction of Mumbai police's Zone II.

On Sunday, Mumbai Police suspended senior inspector of Gamdevi police station Rampyare Rajbhar, who was transferred to the control room, a day after the protest outside Pawar's residence.

Police have also started an enquiry as to whether there was any dereliction of duty by concerned police officials which led to the incident, an official had said on Saturday.

Employees of the state transport body, which has over 90,000 persons on its payrolls, are on strike since November 2021. Their main demand is the merger of the cash-strapped transport corporation with the state government.

While Pawar's party is part of the ruling coalition, the transport portfolio is held by the Shiv Sena's Anil Parab.

The protest came a day after the Bombay High Court asked the workers to resume duty by April 22.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)