Three persons including Civic Asstt. Commissioner injured in mob attack......................

Three civic employees of the demolition squad including an Assistant Municipal Commissioner was attacked with stones and sticks by an irate mob in Kausa of Mumbra today while they were removing encroachments the Thane Civic sources said today.

Following the attack on the senior official Ashok Burpulle, the General Body of the Thane Municipal Corporation which was in progress expressed serious concern and condemned the incident and the meeting itself was adjourned by the Mayor, expressing the feelings of the civic corporators towards the inhuman incident.

The civic corporation said in a late evening press release that the official an Assistant Municipal Commissioner of the corporation had along with his team gone to the M K Steel compound and was still in action an armed angry mob of about 30 to 40 persons came on the scene and straight away attacked Bhurpule, with stones, sticks and iron rods.

The members of the mob also kicked the officer repeatedly and beat him blue and black it was stated.

Immediately after the incident the Municipal Commissioner R A Rajeev rushed straight from the civic general body meeting to the scene and gave a first hand report to the State Chief Secretary, Addl. Chief Secretary (Home) and Principal Secretary of the CM about the entire incident.

The car driver and the security guard who were along with the officer were also attacked by the mob the civic sources said.

The Municipal Commissioner went straight to the police station and lodged a complaint and held discussions with the Police commissioner and declared that henceforth the civic officials will not not budge an inch and take strict action on the encroachments and illegal constructions in the city.

The civic officials further said that Mr. Burpulle who escaped from the furious mob and went towards his car was chased by the mob which dragged him out and again beat him badly and attacked him with stones and sticks besides rods.

In the attack the security guard and the car driver were also injured and all the three have been admitted to the Chatrapati Shivaji Hospital at Kalwa.

Consequent upon this incident of attack on the civic official the Municipal Commissioner said that henceforth the civic officials would be provided armed guard and their vehicles will have wire mesh and shield.

Thane Mayor H S Patil, leader of the house Naresh Mhaske and leader of the opposition Manoj Shinde went to the civic hospital and enquired about the injured.

This is not not the first time such mob attacks had happened in Mumbra it is stated and in earlier occasions too the civic officials were subject to attack in the volatile Mumbra/Kausa region.