Mumbai: Mumbai Congress leaders met police commissioner Deven Bharti and submitted a memorandum, putting three grievances on the table — rising crime in the city, the safety of public representatives and film personalities, and the death of IIT Bombay student Sahil Wakode.
City unit president and MP Varsha Gaikwad led the delegation. 'A jungle raj has taken hold in Mumbai and law and order has collapsed completely,' she said.
According to Gaikwad, Bharti assured the delegation that once the investigation into the Wakode case is complete, appropriate action will be taken against those concerned. The memorandum was handed over during the meeting at the commissioner's office.
Wakode, an IIT Bombay student, died by suicide. His parents have written separately to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his intervention, and more than 175 former students of the institute have asked that campus politics be kept out of the dispute.
The Congress has been targeting the state government over law and order, and this meeting was its latest attempt to keep the Wakode case and the city's safety record in focus.
For the delegation, the three issues are one: it argues the state has failed to protect citizens, public figures and students alike.