Navi Mumbai : Around 80 to 100 residents were booked for staging a late-night protest outside Rabale Police Station over repeated power cuts in the Airoli-Rabale area.
The protest took place on Friday night despite prohibitory orders being in force, leading to registration of cases for unlawful assembly and violation of police directives.
Residents, frustrated by frequent electricity outages, gathered outside the police station around 10:30 p.m. on October 11 and blocked the road while shouting slogans against the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL). The agitation continued until approximately 1:15 a.m., disrupting traffic before police intervened to disperse the crowd.
According to authorities, the protest was organised after residents Sagar Chougule, Bhimrao Dhotre, Ravi Gaikwad, and Rajesh Poyarekar circulated messages on WhatsApp urging citizens to participate. Locals including Vicky Kushalkar, Amol Galande, Datta Bajad, Akash Jampure, Maula Shaikh, Sachin Nagtilak, Vishal Rajpurohit, Laxman Rathod, and Sameer Shaikh joined the demonstration.
Senior Police Inspector Balkrishna Sawant of Rabale Police Station said, “Despite prohibitory orders being in effect, the residents unlawfully assembled and blocked the road, causing inconvenience to commuters. A case has been registered against them for violating the orders.”
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Branch), Navi Mumbai, had earlier issued prohibitory orders under Sections 37(1) and 37(3) of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, from September 27 to October 11, in view of the festive season and ongoing national events.
Rabale Police have booked the accused under Sections 189(2), 189(3), 45, 49, 54, 126(2), and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 37(1)(3) and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act.
