Mumbai, Jul 26 : Internet services were today suspended as a precautionary measure in adjoining Navi Mumbai, where an uneasy calm prevailed a day after violence during the Maratha quota stir.
The services, which were suspended early today, to prevent rumour mongering on social media and online platforms, will be restored tomorrow, police said.
Around 20 policemen, including eight officers, were injured in stone-pelting by protesters at Kopar Khairane and Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai yesterday during the bandh called by Maratha organisations to demand of quota for the community in government jobs and education.
Nine persons were injured when police caned protesters and fired pellets and rubber bullets on the violent mob yesterday, police said.
They include Dattatraya A Waghmare (32), a container driver from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune, who was admitted to a local hospital, police said. His condition is critical, they said.
Police fired 40 shotgun rounds, 22 rubber bullets, 42 teargas shells and 11 teargas grenades to disperse the violent mob in Navi Mumbai yesterday, an official said.
Over 150 vehicles, including 20 belonging to police, were damaged in the violence yesterday, police said.
Protesters set fire to police vehicles in Kalamboli and Kopar Khairane yesterday, Navi Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale said.
A police official said the decision to suspend internet services was taken on a directive of the state Home Department.
Kopar Khairane was the worst-affected during yesterday’s violence, a police officer said. A company of the State Reserve Police Force has been deployed there, along with local police personnel.
Shops, other commercial establishments, schools and colleges were open today even as an uneasy calm prevailed in the area.
The situation in Kalamboli area, where protesters blocked the Mumbai-Pune and Mumbai-Goa highways yesterday, returned to normal today, police said.
