Villagers barge into Dow complex, torch premises

Around 150 people, including some locals from Shinde-Vasuli village of Khed taluka, forced their way into the Dow India complex and torched the premises...

Around 150 people, including some locals from Shinde-Vasuli village of Khed taluka, forced their way into the Dow India complex and torched the premises on Friday. The resulting fire lasted over two hours and was extinguished by fire tenders rushed from Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Pune rural police have arrested 15 villagers on charges of vandalism.

Khed Tehsildar Subash Badge said this was the first time the villagers had resorted to ransacking of the complex. Till now, they had limited themselves to non-violent protests against Dow India.

The police said two storerooms, a JCB, a crane and a water tanker had been set on fire. The watchman’s post was ransacked while the compound wall was partly smashed. At the entrance to the Dow complex, a board was left behind with the words ‘‘Sadguru Sant Tukaram Maharaj Warkari Vidyapeeth’’ scribbled on it.

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‘‘Our warkaris were involved in the incident. This is the holy place of Sant Tukaram. We fear that given Dow’s history in Bhopal and elsewhere, its presence here would adversely affect the environment,’’ said Pune Zilla Warkari Maharashtra president R K Ranjane.

‘‘For the last six months, we have been protesting non-violently but the Government’s inaction has prompted us to take this move,’’ he added. ‘‘We want to build a school at these premises.’’

Dow India did not put any figure to the losses but company director (public affairs) N Y Sanglikar said that the damage ran into crores of rupees.