July 14: Three days after ten residents of Matoshri Ramabai Ambedkar Colony were shot dead by the State Reserve Police, several vehicles were stone-pelted and set afire by dalit protestors during bandh and senior dalit leaders were beaten up, some of the injured in the police firing are still wondering why they were shot.Sixteen-year-old Dattu Anna Kamble says he was shot when he went to answer nature's call. ``I was in a hurry that morning and had just come out of my house. I saw people screaming and running around in all directions. I did not understand why so much of chaos was there. I continued walking down the road and all of a sudden, something hit my left arm. It was really painful and I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the hospital,'' Kamble said. Chandrashekhar Kedare, 22, however, was extremely frightened as the huge crowd around him started running and pelting stones. ``I also started running. I was extremely scared and wanted to be home immediately. On the way, a bullet hit me on my left shoulder from behind and I fell on the ground. After a while, some people brought me to hospital,'' recounted Kedare, an unemployed youth.R J Jadhav, father of six children and the only earning member of the family, never knew that waiting at a bus stop would make him the target of police bullets. ``As usual, I was about to escort four of my children to the school on Friday morning. But when I saw people rioting on the road, I dropped the idea and asked the kids to take a day off. I also warned them not to leave the house in any condition. Then I left for work and was waiting for the bus (route number 511) on the Eastern Express Highway. I saw people rioting and police beating them with lathi. I saw the police firing at the mob and one of the bullets hit on my right arm,'' said Jadhav.For Balu Raut, it was the most painful and unfortunate drive throughout his service with the BEST as a driver. ``It was at around 9.30 am on Friday and I was driving the bus (route number 404) from Ghatkopar railway station to Garodia Nagar. Near Ramabai Colony, a huge crowd pelted stones on the bus. Some of them entered the bus, pulled me down and beat me." Till today, I do not know the reason why they broke my left leg,'' Raut said. All the 4 victims are still undergoing treatment at Rajawadi hospital.
