Raj Thackeray brought to Mumbai

Zeenews Bureau Mumbai,

Oct 21: MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who was arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday in Ratnagiri, has been brought to Mumbai. Raj was brought under tight security to the Bandra-Kurla police station and will be produced in a suburban magistrate`s court in Bandra after completing the formalities, police said. Heavy stone pelting was reported from outside the Bandra court where hundreds of MNS activists gathered protesting the arrest of their leader. Earlier, the Mumbai Police arrested Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray from a government circuit house in Ratnagiri. The arrest was made after a case was registered against Thackeray following Sunday’s attack on North Indian candidates appearing in a rail exam by MNS workers. A senior police officer said that they will seek his custody from the court. A case was registered against Raj and MNS activists for their alleged involvement in the attack on north Indian candidates appearing for a recruitment exam conducted by the Railways in suburb Kherwadi, city Police Commissioner Hasan Gaffoor said. "We did not know whether he would come back to the city or not. Therefore the arrest in Ratnagiri," he said. MNS activists involved in the attempted assault on candidates have also been arrested and police custody would be sought for all of them, the Commissioner said. Thackeray has been charged under sections 153, 353, 336, 425 and 427 of IPC, police sources said. "Some of the charges are bailable and others are non-bailable and it is up to the court to give the police custody that we will be seeking," Gaffoor said. Preventive arrests of MNS activists have also been made in large number in order to maintain peace across the city, he said. Deshmukh, Patil react to arrest Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, reacting to Raj`s arrest, said the police have arrested an individual who had taken the law into his own hands. "There was no pressure from the Centre and we will now strictly follow the legal procedure," he said. Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil said the state government by arresting Thackeray had shown that "he was not above the law". "He had said to show the courage to arrest him and we have done so," Patil said. Earlier, the MNS chief had justified Sunday’s attacks and warned the state that it will have to "regret" the consequences in the event of his arrest. "Arrest me and be ready to bear the consequences.... you will have to regret," Thackeray, who was attending a ceremony at Bahadursheikh Naka in Chiplun, said on Monday. "If Raj is arrested, entire Maharashtra will be set on fire," he threatened. The MNS, predictably, flayed the arrest of its leader and described the incident as a "shame" for Maharashtra. "It is a shame on our government who do not utter anything favouring Marathi people...They are not prompt and keen enough for Maharashtrians," MNS said in a SMS sent to the media. "But they have shown their promptness in arresting a man who is struggling for Marathi people only. There cannot be better example of `Kaliyug`," it said. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray said that Raj must face music for his wrong doings. Arrest triggers violence Following the arrest, sporadic instances of violence were reported from various parts of Maharashtra and Section 144 was imposed in certain parts of Mumbai. MNS activists burnt a toll booth in Mulund while two buses were damaged in Bhiwandi. Violence was also reported from Nasik, Thane, Virle Parle, Juhu, Jogeshwari and Pune. According to reports, about 350 taxis have also been damaged in the violence that followed shortly after Thackrey was arrested. A truck was also set on fire in Panvel. There were also reports of some unidentified men throwing stones at the suburban resident of Congress spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam. Incidents of stone pelting at municipal and private buses were reported here this morning following the arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray in Ratnagiri. In Kothrud area, some alleged MNS activists damaged a company`s bus that was taking its employees to workplace. Elsewhere, a few Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) buses were stoned by miscreants, police said. Meanwhile, police have picked up around 100 MNS activists, including some corporators since last night as a preventive measure. In Nashik, MNS activists set ablaze a truck near PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal`s farm this morning and also damaged another truck at Vilholi-Phata area, police said. Incidents of stone pelting on MSRTC buses and other vehicles were reported in some areas, they said, adding vehicular traffic on the busy Mumbai-Agra-national highway was disrupted following the protest. Also, police have rounded up 70 MNS activists in Nashik so far in connection with these incidents and security has been tightened in the city. In Solapur, incidents of stone pelting on state transport buses around 0630 hours has also been reported, the police added. In view of the deteriorating law and order situation due to MNS-led campaign against North Indians, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had yesterday warned Raj Thackeray and his party to immediately stop his ‘gundaraaj’.

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Raj Thackeray should also be charged under IPC 420, for that is what he is - a traitor to the Indian nation in his attempts to divide India on the basis of regionalism, no different than the attempts made by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who succeeded in creating Pakistan. - K.Venugopal - Mumbai
Ameya Kulkarni arre kay laj-sharam tula. Dont you understand that whatever he is doing, not for only marathi people but also for those living in maharashtra since thier birth. just imagine after few years when your child will search go for job and he wont get job. just because all seats are occupied by other state peopels. Aur ae Balmukund kohali, do you know who killed gandhi? he was maharashtrian guy. so keep your mouth shut. - Sushant Jagannath Patil - Dombivli
What Raj is doing now today should have been done long back. All this uncivilized biharis and up people should not be entertained. He is fighting for all will benifit all people who are staying in mumbai maharashtra. His purpose is very correct and he has no other option then to follow this way. i strongly support raj thackery for this. Jai Maharashtra - Mithun Joshi - Mumbai