Three days after residents lodged a complaint, police have failed to find the accused despite combing operations on railway tracks till Wadi Bunder
The Byculla police say they have been combing the railway tracks to get clues on the peddlers' whereabouts
Three days after Nigerian drug peddlers in Byculla attacked residents of Ekta Nagar for trying to stop buyers from reaching them, the police, who have booked around 15 peddlers, have failed to find a single one of them. The Byculla police had carried out a combing operation on the railway tracks in the wee hours of Saturday, after residents lodged a complaint on Friday night against the accused for throwing stones at them.
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Residents' fightback
Residents had come in the firing line after deciding to take the fight to the peddlers, alleging that the local police had failed to tackle the menace despite repeated complaints. Nearly 60 locals had stood guard on the foot overbridge leading down to the tracks to stop customers from going to the peddlers, who had then pelted stones at the residents after finding out what they were doing. A resident, Abdul Qadir Waghu, told mid-day, "These peddlers are very dangerous and can cause us harm for opposing them. They have been a menace and even eve-teased the area's women repeatedly. We are helpless, as no authority has been able to stop them."
Tracking the accused
The police have booked the accused under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Senior inspector Avinash Shingte told mid-day, "We started combing operations with a 25-member team the day we got the complaint. We have been walking on the tracks and even scanning every corner of the stretch till Wadi Bunder. We are trying our best to nab the accused."
60
Number of residents found blocking the FOB to stop peddlers' customers
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