A mob of nearly 40 people gathered outside the premises of the British deputy high commission in the Bandra-Kurla Complex and vandalised it, also injuring three on-duty police constables in the process. The police has arrested 28 people for the offence and is trying to find out why the high security installation was targeted.
According to the BKC police, the incident occurred at around 6.15 pm on Saturday. The mob, which gathered outside deputy high commission building, was led by one Sajjad Pawne, a resident of Nirmal Nagar and the president of a local non-government organisation called Insaaf.
“We were at a function which was being attended by minister Pranab Mukherjee at the Trident Hotel in BKC when we learnt that a mob was trying to gain entry inside the deputy high commission, which has pretty strict protocols of admission and is closed on weekends anyway. We immediately rushed to the spot,” said Chandrakant Bhosale, senior police inspector, BKC police.
The police tried to reason with Pawne, telling him that he would be admitted inside if he followed proper protocol but Pawne was adamant. Even as negotiations were underway, Pawne and his companions started hurling stones and bricks at the deputy high commission building, damaging a doorframe metal detector (DMFD) and a wooden table used by security guards. Pawne, during interrogation, has been trying to feed the police a rather unbelievable story. “Pawne claims that he was cheated of a huge amount by a Juhu resident called Vimal Rathod, and several of his complaints to the Juhu police went unheeded. He further claims that someone told him to approach the British deputy high commission, as they would help him in making his plea heard. So, he went on a rampage when he was denied entry.”