India, July 24 -- High drama unfolded at Sassoon Dock on Tuesday as the port authorities faced off with angry members of the Koli community, who resisted eviction from warehouses on the premises.

The eviction attempt follows a standoff with the Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA), which is demanding that the Kolis and others who use its warehouses, or godowns, at the dock pay rents at Ready Reckoner rates. The Koli community says it feels deeply betrayed as they had been given an assurance by state fisheries and ports development minister Nitesh Rane that the matter would be worked out.

Despite the assurance, an MbPA team, backed by police, showed up at the dock, but they faced a fierce backlash from around 2,000 Kolis, many of whom blocked en...