Curfew imposed after violence rocks Jaitapur

Jaitapur: Hundreds of activists protesting the Jaitapur nuclear power project Tuesday blocked traffic and torched trucks and buses in different parts of Ratnagiri to protest the police firing a day ago in which one person was killed. The state government said it will probe the police firing but would go ahead with setting up of the 9,900 MW plant.Meanwhile, the situation in different parts of Ratnagiri limped back to normalcy in the evening. The police clamped prohibitory orders under Sec. 144 of the Bombay Police Act that bans the assembly of more than five people.The Shiv Sena-called shutdown Tuesday witnessed several violent incidents in different parts of the district.Police kept enhanced vigil all over the district, including the headquarters, Ratnagiri, and sensitive villages like Madhban, Jaitapur and Sakre-Nate.In a related development, Shirin, the widow of the the killed activist Tabrez Pehekar wrote to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan alleging that her husband was ‘murdered’ by the police.”Shirin has said that Tabrez had sustained only a single bullet injury and was dumped in a police jeep to be taken to hospital. In the cramped jeep, four policemen sat, keeping their feet on him. Today’s autopsy report on Tabrez shows three bullet injuries. Shirin has alleged that he was shot two more times while being taken to hospital. It is murder by the police,” Jan Hit Seva Samiti president Pravin Gawankar told IANS in the evening.