Revellers get 'kicks' before New Year's eve

Moral brigade manhandled youth near Sinhagad Fort yesterday

New Year revellers at the Sinhagad Fort got more kicks than anticipated ahead of the celebrations. And it was not the alcohol to blame, but the moral brigade that dampened their festive spirit.

Members of the Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Sena (BVS), the student wing of Shiv Sena, patrolling the vicinity of Sinhagad Fort caught several couples that had assembled at the fort. The activists snatched their bags and emptied beer bottles that they had brought along. Some got into an argument and were manhandled and beaten up by the mob.

Bullied
Anil Rane (name changed) had his bag ripped open and his bottle broken. He questioned, "This is nothing but bullying. Who are they to tell us not to drink on the occasion of New Year? Besides, who has given them the right to act as moral police?" Rane added, "We were not creating any nuisance. We just came along with friends to have some good time."

Likewise, Dilip Waikar (name changed), another youth who had gone to the fort with his girlfriend, had a similar experience when the BVS activists forced him to open his bag and emptied the beer bottles. Waikar said, "The way the Sainiks behaved with us was very bad. This is a democratic country. How can we tolerate such people?"

Defiling the fort
Sagar Shinde, the secretary of BVS, said, "We had launched a movement to keep the sanctity of the fort under the leadership of Shiv sena leader Neelam Gorhe. We stopped nearly 400 people and broke their liquor bottles because they were going to drink in the vicinity of Sinhagad Fort, which has historical importance. We did not allow them to defile the fort as it has links with Shivaji."

"We had taken out a leaflet urging them not to come to the fort or in its vicinity with liquor bottles as it is the sacred land of Maharashtra. Some of them took our advice seriously and refrained from coming with bottles while others did not. Hence, we had to convey the message in our own Sena way," he added.

Meanwhile, Pratap Digahonkar, rural SP, said that they were taking stern action against those people who were found in inebriated condition in public places or those having liquor bottles without permit.

"We are checking vehicles randomly and those people who we suspect to be drunk are being subjected to breathanalyser tests. We are also taking action against those people who are found to be drinking without permit."