On Wednesday, 5th December evening, 3 police personnel of Mumbai Police identified as Assistant Police Inspector Yaswant Palwe from MIDC Police Station, Hanumant Pujari, and Sunil Lokhande were severely injured after a group of around 20 notorious Iranian gang members pelted stones at the Ambivli railway station area of Maharashtra’s Mumbai.
As per the reports, the incident is said to have happened when the Andheri East MIDC Police personnel arrived in the Iranian locality near the Ambivli railway station area to arrest a 20-year-old Iranian chain snatcher.
The snatcher had been accused in one of the cases after which the police launched an operation to search for the accused and nab him.
The police arrived in the area at around 9:30 pm in the Iranian Basti and arrested the accused before taking him to the Ambivli Railway Station area heading towards Mumbai for investigation.
As the police reached the railway station, a group of notorious Iranian members launched a deadly attack on the police, pelting stones at the officers.
BREAKING: Irani gang launches a violent attack at Badlapur Police station to free their member from police custody.
— Treeni (@TheTreeni) December 5, 2024
Arrested members include Taufiq Tejib Hussain and Mohammad Ali alias K Zaveri, part of a chain-snatching gang.
Chaos unfolded as gang members hurled stones at… pic.twitter.com/gqz4Fsp1Ge
The gang members collected the stones from the nearby railway track and attacked the officers injuring three very severely. The injured officers were shifted to the hospital for proper treatment and later discharged. The video of the incident is making rounds on social media in which the gang members can be seen picking up the stones from the track and throwing them at the police officers.
The police teams confirmed to the media that a team of 15 officers, including three inspectors, was examining a case lodged at the MIDC Police Station in the Irani area of Ambivli. They apprehended Onu Lala Irani and took him to the railway station, where an Iranian mob eventually assembled and allegedly attacked them.
The police said they arrested Onu Lala Irani, 20 following which several Iranians including women and minors gathered illegally near the railway station and caused a ruckus on the station grounds by pelting stones at the police personnel.
Following this, the accused, Onu Irani, escaped from police custody. The others meanwhile pelted stones further to damage the railway office. Notably, an FIR against the 20 Iranian persons has been filed under sections 109(1), 132, 121(1), 189(2), (3), (5), 262, 263, 352, 351(1), and 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyan Sanhita and relevant sections of the Railway Act.
So far, the Mumbai police have detained four accused and have identified 5 minors in the case. “We have also filed an FIR against 15 to 20 people who allegedly unlawfully gathered at the railway premises and were pelting stones, causing the glasses of the booking office to break,” Pandhari Kande, Senior Police Inspector from Kalyan Railway said.
Meanwhile, Yashwant Palwe, Assistant Police Inspector at MIDC Police Station, stated that a chain-snatching case was filed on November 1st at the MIDC police station. Based on CCTV footage and technical intelligence, the police had identified the accused and traced his location to an Iranian locality.
Past attacks by Irani gang
This is not the first incident when the police officers have been attacked by a mob in the Irani Basti area.
Last year on August 27th, a police team from the DN Nagar Police Station in Mumbai was attacked by a mob from the Irani Basti area.
The Police team was attacked as it reached the Basti in the Ambivali region to arrest history-sheeter Firoz Fayyaz Khan who has 35 criminal cases registered against him.
The mob pelted stones at the team forcing it to call for the backup team who reached the spot immediately to arrest the accused.
in the year 2019, the police team was attacked, and pelted with stones and bottles when it reached the area to nab four wanted thieves. Jafar Ali Syed was then taken into custody.
Further, in April 2017, when police went into Irani Basti to apprehend a chain snatcher, a mob of 25 people attacked them and attempted to set one of them on fire by throwing kerosene at him.
