Mumbai: 11 Mantralaya protesters face suicide bid charges

Mumbai Police has registered a case against 11 protesters on the charge of attempting suicide after they climbed onto a safety net on the first floor of the Maharashtra secretariat here for various demands, an official said on Wednesday.

A group of protesters on Tuesday climbed onto the safety net set up on the first floor of Mantralaya demanding proper compensation for their land acquired for the Upper Wardha dam project. They are residents of Morshi in Amravati district, according to police.

The protesters also demanded four acres farm land for each villager whose land was acquired for the dam project and state government jobs for the project-affected people, the official said. After the protest, police detained at least 40 protesters.

An FIR was registered against 11 of them under section 120 B (Criminal conspiracy), 143 (Unlawful assembly), 309 (Attempt to commit suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act for disobeying orders of Mumbai Police, the official said.