MUMBAI: Mumbai witnessed protests at several locations on Wednesday in support of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) agitation over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, with police detaining several demonstrators and forcibly evicting senior Congress leaders from a key intersection in south Mumbai.Police stopped Maharashtra Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar and former minister Naseem Khan at Regal Cinema Chowk as they headed towards the Maharashtra BJP office in south Mumbai.The leaders were taken away in police vans and shifted to Colaba police station.The Congress leaders had planned to present copies of the Constitution to BJP leaders.Protesters raised slogans such as “Modi Hato, Desh Bachao” during the demonstration.Across the city, hundreds gathered at multiple locations to protest against the alleged NEET paper leak despite prohibitory orders being in force.According to officials, a large number of protesters assembled at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Garden in Chembur amid heavy police deployment.Several protesters were detained, with eyewitnesses alleging that some were dragged into police vehicles before being taken to the local police station.The protesters in Chembur carried placards demanding reforms in the education system and action over the alleged examination irregularities.After detaining several people, police dispersed the remaining crowd.Some protesters alleged that they had been stopped by police while travelling to the protest site.Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Amit Thackeray later reached the protest venue and visited the police station.Sources said the detained protesters were released following their intervention.At Shivaji Park in Dadar, police personnel stopped a woman wearing a burqa while she was protesting.MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s wife, Sharmila Thackeray, came to her support and sat beside her during the demonstration.A large crowd also gathered outside Shiv Sena Bhavan in Dadar and raised slogans against Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Police maintained a heavy presence at all protest sites to prevent any untoward incident.(With PTI inputs)
