‘Azad Maidan probe likely to be completed in 8 months’

MUMBAI: The police will take about eight months to complete the inquiry to assess the extent of damage of public property in the August 11 Azad Maidan riots, the state government told the Bombay high court on Tuesday.
A division bench of Justice P V Hardas and Justice Mridula Bhatkar was hearing a public interest litigation by journalists Sanket Satope and Uday Joshi seeking direction to the state to recover losses due to damage of public property during the riots.At the previous hearing, the court had asked when the probe would be completed.
Public prosecutor Revati Mohite-Dere submitted that there are some 75 accused and around 1,500 witnesses who will have to be summoned and statements recorded. “This will take around eight months,” she said.
Petitioners’advocate Subhash Jha told the court that though the matter is of “grave public importance’’, the government has not yet filed its reply stating how it will recover the amount and from whom. “The court must set a precedent in this case,’’ said Jha.
The judges have posted the matter for hearing after the court’s summer vacation.