Thane: A funeral procession in Diva was allegedly obstructed briefly after a private road that is incidentally the sole motorable access to the dense residential colony in the Bedekar Nagar area was barricaded by some miscreants, who locals said had been blocking the road to illegally collect a toll for use of the thoroughfare.A viral video of the incident, apparently shot and released online by local activist Amol Kendre on Friday afternoon, shows the procession stopping midway as members carrying the corpse were unable to cross the barricade that was locked.Angry relatives gathered at the spot and demanded immediate access, and after waiting for nearly 30 minutes, they finally broke the lock and transported the corpse to the waiting ambulance to be taken for cremation, the video showed.When contacted, the Mumbra police said they were alerted to the incident, but no official complaint was registered.Kendre, in his video, claimed that a few ‘anti-social’ elements blocked access to the road and used to charge money from hapless motorists to access the colonies located beyond, while repeated complaints to the police and local municipal officials proved futile.“The road serves as a vital passage for several housing clusters in the area. It is not yet clear who owns the road, but how can these elements charge money? The corporation has failed to take any action despite repeated complaints,” Kendre alleged.
