Thane, March 19 Police have arrested a man and are trying to locate his two associates for allegedly setting off firecrackers outside a district jail in Thane, Maharashtra, and assaulting an on-duty constable there after he tried to stop them, an official said.
The incident took place outside the district jail in Adharwadi, Kalyan, during the night of March 14 and 15, he said, adding that the accused set off the crackers to celebrate the release of one of them from prison on bail.
A case has been filed based on a statement by Abhijit Sudam Koli (40), a senior officer at the district jail.
The main accused in the case, Rohit Ganesh Jagdale, and two other men aged between 25 and 30, gathered outside the main gate of the jail and set off firecrackers that flew into the air. They did so despite a 440-volt electric current running through the wire fence above the gate for security reasons, the official said.
They set off the crackers to celebrate Jagdale's release on bail, he said.
When constable Amol Desale, who was on duty at the prison gate at that time, tried to stop them, the trio became violent.
"The accused abused the constable, knocked him down, and prevented him from performing his duty," the police official said.
After the incident, the police arrested Jagdale, while a search operation is underway to locate his two accomplices, he added.
A case has been registered against the trio at the Khadakpada police station under sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from performing his duty), 270 (a malicious act likely to spread an infectious disease dangerous to life), and 326 (g) (uttering words with intent to insult modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act.