PUNE: A day after the Congress Party office was ransacked in the city, the Pune city police have arrested 19 persons for vandalism. 

“I came to see the office. I will search for the accused and hand them over to the police,” Bhor Congress MLA Sangram Thopte said when he visited the damaged office at Congress Bhavan in Shivajinagar, on Wednesday.  

Around 5.30 pm on Tuesday, a group of 18-20 persons armed with sticks, stones and banners in support of Thopte as he was not included in the state cabinet, entered the Congress Bhavan and ransacked the office. “The accused were from Bhor, Velha and Mulshi talukas. They were raising slogans and damaged computers, furniture in the office of city and district presidents. One staff Fulgaonkar sustained injuries in the incident,” stated a complaint lodged by the party’s representative. 

Based on the complaint, Shivajinagar police station officials registered an FIR for various offences including unlawful assembly and rioting under the Indian Penal Code. Later, 19 persons were arrested in the case.