Six people, including two police personnel, were injured in clashes between BJP and Konark Vikas Aghadi workers in Bhiwandi.
Violence erupted near Shivaji Chowk after the civic polls, with stone-pelting and vandalism reported at the BJP office.
Police deployed heavy security, resorted to a lathicharge, and are registering a case as tensions remain under control.
Bhiwandi Clash: Six hurt as BJP, KVA Workers Clash
Police resort to lathicharge after stone-pelting at BJP office
Summary
In Bhiwandi town in Maharashtra's Thane district, workers from two opposing parties clashed, injuring six people, including two police officers, officials reported on Monday.
Police used a lathi charge to restore order after activists from the local political group Konark Vikas Aghadi (KVA) allegedly threw stones and looted the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters during the unrest late Sunday night.
Tensions after the recently finished Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation elections appeared to be the cause of the violence that broke out between KVA and BJP workers at Shivaji Chowk.
Videos circulating on social media showed people throwing stones and police intervening to disperse the crowd.
"It was a murderous attack (on BJP activists at the party office) by our rivals. They even attempted to raid my residence unsuccessfully," local BJP MLA Mahesh Chowgule alleged.
Some people manhandled police personnel during the incident, he charged.
Vilas Patil, a KVA official, refuted the accusations, claiming that BJP activists started the violence and that KVA members were the victims.
Six people, including a police officer, a constable, and four political workers (two from each of the opposing sides), were injured and received treatment at a nearby hospital, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-II) Shashikant Borate.
According to him, the police used a lathi charge to scatter the protestors.
Right now, everything was under control. According to a Thane city police control room official, strong security was put in place to stop the situation from getting worse.
The Nizampura police were in the process of registering a case in connection with the incident, officials said.
In the January 15 elections to the 90-member Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation, the Congress secured 30 seats, the BJP 22, while the KVA managed to get only 4 seats.
The Shiv Sena, led by Eknath Shinde, and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP) bagged 12 seats each, Samajwadi Party 6, Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi (Ekta Manch) 3, while an independent got 1 seat.
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