Pune – The Pune rural police have created a special cell for intelligence gathering to prevent incidents like the caste clashes earlier this year at Koregaon Bhima.
At least, 25 experienced police personnel, who have served at different police stations, have been attached to the cell under special branch.
The team’s mandate is to gather village level intelligence and pass on the same to the higher ups.
The Vijay Stambh or memorial at Koregaon Bhima commemorates a battle fought between the British and the Peshwa troops nearby on January 1, 1818. On January 1 this year when a large number of dalits had gathered to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle, there were clashes between two groups. One person was killed, several injured and properties worth crores were damaged.
Also there was violence in Chakan during Maratha reservation protest in which about 100 vehicles were damaged. They had also burnt tyres and attacked policemen, some of them are injured. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The protesters had called a bandh in Chakan area and they had blocked the Nashik-Pune Highway.