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A man from Jalna district who came to Mumbai for the cause of Maratha reservation allegedly died by suicide, police said on Thursday.
He allegedly hanged himself with a rope under the Western Express Highway in the Bandra area of Mumbai. The incident is said to have happened on Wednesday night, police said. The deceased is identified as Sunil Baburao Kawle, a resident of Chikangaon village in Ambad taluka of Jalna district, police said. A purported suicide note and a mobile phone were found in his bag, they added. In the suicide note, the deceased wrote, "People of the Maratha community should gather in Mumbai on October 24 for the movement for the Maratha reservation." At the end of the suicide note, he also apologised, police said. The Kherwadi Police of Mumbai has registered a case. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, police said. The Maratha community has been protesting for over a month for the community's inclusion into the OBC list in the state. Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole earlier this month questioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s stand on the Maratha community's demand for reservations, holding the BJP solely responsible for the ongoing protests in the state. "The thorns that BJP had sown to win the elections are now coming out, BJP should fulfil the promise it had made in 2014 regarding 16 per cent Maratha reservation. Now there is a BJP government in the Center and the state too. Why are they not giving reservations?," Nana Patole said while speaking to ANI. "BJP is responsible for the protests of the Maratha community," Patole said. Earlier last month, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called an all-party meeting on the Maratha reservation issue and said that the government has decided to give reservations to Marathas and accepted many of the protesters' demands. "In the meeting, we have decided to give reservation to Marathas. The government is of the view to give reservations to Maratha without touching the other (castes) reservations," CM Shinde said. He further said, "The decision to give reservations to Marathas must be valid legally and it must stand in law, so we are working on it. The government has accepted many of the protester's demands too." Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said that no politics should be done on the issue of Maratha reservation. He said his party will welcome and extend support to the positive initiatives taken by the state government on this matter. On September 1, a clash broke out in Jalna between police and those demanding reservations for the Maratha community. Police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the demonstrators. (ANI)
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