Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jul 9: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday removed Mira Bhayander Police Commissioner Madhukar Pandey, a day after large-scale unrest broke out in Mira Road, Thane district, during a pro-Marathi protest.
Pandey has now been appointed as Additional Director General of Police (Administration). Stepping into his former role is Niket Kaushik, who was previously serving as Additional Director General of Police (Anti-Corruption).
The reshuffle follows Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s dissatisfaction with the police’s handling of the Mira Road situation over the last two weeks. Sources said the CM expressed his concerns directly to the state’s Director General of Police, Rashi Shukla.
Tensions flared on Tuesday after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), and Marathi Ekikaran Samiti held a protest march demanding protection of Marathi identity in the region. The police had initially denied permission for the morcha and briefly detained several MNS workers who defied the orders.
The groups behind the protest alleged bias, claiming traders — primarily Gujaratis and Marwaris — were allowed to hold a protest days earlier, while the pro-Marathi morcha faced restrictions. The traders had taken to the streets last week, protesting incidents of assault allegedly by MNS members who demanded they speak Marathi.
Amid escalating tensions, State Transport Minister and Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik visited Mira Road but was met with loud slogans of “pannas khokhe, ekdum okay” (a reference to alleged bribery), forcing him to leave under police protection.
Fadnavis clarified that the police had approved a separate route for the MNS rally to avoid confrontation, but the party insisted on its preferred route. Eventually, police released the detained activists and allowed the march to proceed.
The unrest has highlighted growing linguistic and political tensions in the Mira Road-Bhayander area, prompting the government to act swiftly in reshuffling the local police leadership.