Pradeep Purnekar murder: Protest trigger massive traffic snarls on Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway

A 26yearold woman was killed after being run over by a heavy container truck amid massive traffic congestion on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway on Wednesday morning as protests in Thane over the murder of Shiv Sena UBT leader Pradeep Purnekar disrupted traffic across the regionThe congestion stretched for nearly 20 to 27 km between the Versova bridge which spans the Vasai creek and Virar limits leaving motorists stranded for hours The deceased Dhanashree Paresh Sonawane resided at Gandhi Pada in Ganeshpuri Bhiwandi The precise circumstances leading to her death are yet to be establishedpopcorn number300 descNo of traffic personnel deployed along affected stretch classDefaultThe congestionTraffic on the Mumbai and Thanebound lanes of the highway was severely affected from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning The congestion began around Virar and Mandvi before extending towards Mira Road Nalasopara Vasai and Naigaon Vehicles travelling from Ahmedabad towards Mumbai and Thane were particularly affectedSanjay Shintre additional commissioner of police traffic MiraBhayandar VasaiVirar Police Commissionerate said ldquoThe trouble in Thane where roads were blocked and heavy vehicles were restricted affected us here as well Vehicles coming from Ahmedabad towards Mumbai and Thane were impactedrdquoThe highway was already witnessing slow movement due to ongoing roadwork between Virar and Jawaharlal Nehru Port JNPT The additional pressure from the disruption in Thane further aggravated the situationShintre clarified that traffic had not come to a complete standstill contrary to claims circulating about the situation ldquoIt is not stalled as people are saying The traffic is moving very slowly and we are allowing vehicles to pass graduallyrdquo he saidCommutersrsquo ordealMore than 300 traffic personnel were deployed along the affected 27km stretch with zonal deputy commissioners of police personnel from six police stations and two assistant commissioners of police working to regulate the flow of vehiclesPankaj Raut a Palghar resident said ldquoTraffic is a regular issue on the MumbaiAhmedabad Highway The only difference between Tuesday night and Wednesday was an additional two hours of delay Earlier people would get stuck for around two hours on this highwayrdquo Raut saidHe also alleged that containers heading towards Mumbai airport were travelling on the wrong side of the road on Wednesday further worsening the congestionMotorist Vishal H Rochlani posted on X ldquoStuck at the NH48 Vasai bridge for three hours and not a single movement since then Also there was no traffic police to clear it It is due to heavy vehicles I guess FrustratedrdquoThe agitationThe protests in Thane erupted on Tuesday night over the September 29 murder of Purnekar His supporters demanded the arrest of former Thane mayor Meenakshi Shinde and her husband Rajendra Shinde whom the victimrsquos family has accused of involvement in the murder The allegations have not been establishedThe agitation intensified after police detained Purnekarrsquos son Ram on Tuesday afternoon while he was attempting to march towards Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos residence to demand action in the caseBeginning outside Naupada police station the protests spread to Manpada BalkumBhiwandi Road Chitalsar and Kasarvadavli with congestion extending towards Kapurbawdi Protesters blocked the highway near Manpada Chowk and burnt tyres at several locations bringing traffic on Ghodbunder Road and connecting stretches to a standstillAgitationrsquos impactCommuters travelling between Thane and Mumbai were stranded for nearly seven hours Some reportedly abandoned their vehicles and walked several kilometres to reach their destinationsPolice intervened to disperse protesters and clear the roads Around 3 am on Wednesday personnel reportedly resorted to a lathicharge at Manpada Chowk after protesters allegedly refused to disperseSome protesters subsequently attempted to pelt the police with stones ldquoTraffic movement gradually resumed after the blockade was cleared Traffic returned to normal around 4 amrdquo a senior traffic police official told midday