The traffic on the busy Laxmi Road went off gear for nearly an hour during the peak morning period as the owner of Sadashiv Peth-based Ranka Jeweller and about 10 of his supporters indulged in a fierce fight with nearly ten PMC employees.

Sticks and iron rods were used to attack each other during the fracas. Seven persons including the shop owner Fattechand Ranka, his brother Ashok, manager Sunil Gadia, PMC officials Ramesh Ingavale and Gopal Sonavane, head constable T N Dhavle and woman police constable Sulbha Daithankar suffered minor injuries in the brawl. The situation could be brought under control only after reinforcements came from the nearby Vishrambaug police station.

Later in the afternoon, both Fattechand Ranka and Ramesh Ingavale lodged complaints against each other with the Vishrambaug police station. Acting on the basis of the complaints, the police arrested 12 persons including eight PMC staffers who were released on bail in the evening.

Among the arrested PMC staffers include Ramesh Ingavale, Anant Supe, Ravindra Surve, Omkar Kakade, Shashikant Pise, Kishor Pardeshi, Ram Ghadshi and Ramesh Wablekar.

Ranka, his brother Ashok, manager Sunil Gadiya and employee Chandrashekhar Shukla were also arrested and released on bail.

In his complaint, Ranka alleged that the PMC staffers attacked him, Ashok and Sunil Gadiya when they protested against the removal of an iron mesh fitted at a construction site located behind the shop. The PMC staffers entered the building under construction and removed the iron mesh illegally, the complaint added.

Ranka also claimed that Ashok lost his gold locket, estimated to be worth around Rs 27,000, during the fracas.

Ingavale's complaint stated that the PMC staffers removed the iron mesh in front of the shop as it was an encroachment on the road. The complaint said that the fight began when Ranka and his accomplices raised protest against the action and tried to pull the iron mesh out of the PMC vehicle. The jeweller and his accomplices also beat up head constable T N Dhavle and woman police constable Sulbha Daithankar when they tried to intervene, it added.