3 hawkers sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for assaulting civic official in Navi Mumbai

Thane, Mar 29 (PTI) A court in Navi Mumbai has sentenced three hawkers to two years of imprisonment for assaulting and obstructing a civic official during an anti-encroachment drive in 2016.
    Additional sessions judge K R Deshpande found the accused, Shrikant Surendra Sharma (42), Dipakkumar Chhotelal Gaikwad (48), and Siraj Jawhad Khan (53), guilty of charges under sections 353 (assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from duty), and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
    A copy of the order passed on March 20 was made available on Friday.
    The incident occurred on August 19, 2016, when the complainant, Subash Dadu Adagale (58), a ward officer with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), was carrying out an anti-encroachment drive in CBD Belapur with his team of civic and contractual staff.
    The three accused approached the officers, verbally abused and manhandled the officials, and prevented them from carrying out their work.
    Additional public prosecutor E.B. Dhamal examined six witnesses, including the complainant and eyewitnesses.
    After carefully considering the evidence, the judge concluded that the prosecution had proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, warranting a conviction.
    The court sentenced each accused to two years of imprisonment and imposed a collective fine of Rs 2,250 on each of them.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)