OVER 1,500 Mumbai police personnel have been deployed at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai to maintain law and order in view of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange’s agitation, officials said. Senior police officials, including Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satya Narayan, on evening visited the protest venue in the evening and took stock of the security arrangements. Jarange, 43, has announced that he would launch an indefinite fast at the Azad Maidan from August 29. He along with thousands of supporters left his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district on August 26.

 

On Thursday morning, he reached Shivneri fort, the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and later proceeded to Mumbai. He has been demanding that all Marathas be recognised as Kunbis – an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category – which will make them eligible for reservation in Government jobs and education. Besides the local police, one company each of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rapid Action Force (RAF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) are also deployed at the protest venue and its surrounding areas to avoid any untoward incident, he said.