Navi Mumbai: Case Registered Against 50 Individuals Over Illegal Bullock Cart Race

Navi Mumbai, 7th December 2023: On Friday (January 6), the Panvel city police registered a case against 50 individuals for organising a bullock cart race without permission. This comes after an incident where bullets were fired over a bullock cart race in Ambernath village.

Bullock cart owner Rahul Patil of Kalyan and Panvel bullock cart owner Pandhari Phadke argued over winning the cart and whose bullock was the winner. The initial verbal argument escalated to threatening each other on social media. After that, it led to a firearm firing in Ambernath a month ago. Currently, Phadke of Panvel and his accomplices are in jail due to strict enforcement of the Organized Crime Act.

As there were no supporters of Phadke in Panvel, the race sessions in the rural areas of Panvel did not stop after Phadke and his companions went to jail. Bull races were organised in Panvel on a small scale. It was also discussed that bullock cart races will not be held in Panvel in future after taking action against Phadke as he is the self-proclaimed president of the state-level bullock cart organisation. But as bullock cart owners and spectators in Panvel were not supportive of Phadke’s attitude, they organised a bullock cart race in Panvel.

A bullock cart race was organised in the ground next to the cemetery of Owle village at 4:30 pm on Friday. As soon as the Panvel city police got information about this race, the police registered a case against Rupesh Mungaji, Shakti Gaikwad, Sanjay Mungaji, Pritam Mhatre, Rahul Naik, Samrat Mhatre and 50 others for organising the race without permission. The action has been taken under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.