MUMBAI, February 12: A luxury bus had already been set on fire at Ramabai Nagar and the passengers had alighted with their luggage before the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) jawans fired in the air, suspended Police Sub-Inspector M Y Kadam told the Gundewar Commission today.In reply to a question in the examination-in-chief conducted by Commission Counsel Vijay Pradhan, Kadam said that the rampaging mob was pelting stones at the police, the SRPF van and other stationary vehicles and were in the process of setting the LPG tankers on fire when his jawans took their respective positions to fire in the air. Slogans like ``Sukhdeo sodu naka, jalun taak and Sukhdeo aage bado, hum tumhare saath hai'' were also heard, Kadam said. Some members of the mob were also seen moving towards the stationary vehicles armed with burnt tyre parts and kerosene cans, he added.Kadam said that before he ordered firing in the air, the luxury bus was at a distance of 10-12 feet from an LPG tanker and was not entirely on fire.However, soon after the first round of firing, he saw some of the mob members pushing the luxury bus, which was now ablaze, towards the LPG tanker.Seeing this, he asked four or five of his jawans to retreat a few steps and later directed them to position themselves near the tanker in order to hold back the crowd from setting the tanker on fire, Kadam said. While some jawans were armed with lathis, others had rifles. He added that the police fired rounds in the west, north and north-east direction. He further said that when he reached the spot, the road towards Thane was packed with vehicles.Replying to another question, Kadam said that adequate training in handling of arms and ammunition had been imparted to his jawans, their performance had been assessed and graded accordingly and records were also maintained.When asked whether he was aware of the performance of the seven jawans who were with him at the time of the incident, Kadam said that none of the jawans, whose performance is below par atthe time of assessment, were sent for a cadre course.
