Cops are on the lookout for four men for allegedly intimidating vendors in Mumbai’s suburban Jogeshwari.
On Tuesday, the four accused -- identified as Priyesh Jaisawal, Navnath Kadam, Sohan Sahu and Lahu -- allegedly bashed up local hawkers and vandalised their stalls while threatening to hurt them if they reappeared at the place.
The police has registered a case under sections 143, 145, 147, 149, 505 of Indian Penal Code against the accused.
Searches have been intensified to nab the four accused, police said on Wednesday.
“All accused have switched off their mobile phones and are at large. But we hope to catch them soon,” said a police officer attached with Jogeshwari police station, where the case has been registered.
“We have learnt that out of the four accused, there are few cases against two of them, which we are in process of ascertaining,” added the official.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Zone 10, Vinayak Deshmukh visited the area and took stock of the situation.
“The accused have no backing of any party and rumours that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers beat North Indians are baseless,” he said.
Earlier, few reports had suggested that MNS workers beat hawkers in suburban Mumbai claiming that they were operating there as ‘outsiders’, causing inconvenience to Mumbaikars.
Deshmukh vehemently denied such reports and said, “Out of four accused, two are North Indians.”
Image: The men vandalising the stalls in Mumbai's Jogeshwari area. Photograph: ANI/Twitter
