Raj Thackeray's MNS gets go ahead for rally, Mumbai police silent on march

Mumbai: The Mumbai police on Monday granted permission to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to hold a public rally at Azad Maidan on Tuesday but were silent on the nod for a protest march ahead of the meet by the Raj Thackeray-led party which has vowed to go ahead with its plan.

"Permission has been granted for the rally at Azad Maidan and police machinery is in place at the venue," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajneesh Seth while talking to mediapersons in Mumbai.

However, when asked about permission for the protest march by the MNS from Girgaum to Azad Maidan, a distance of about five km, ahead of the public meet, he sidestepped the query, merely saying "police are prepared" to tackle any situation.

Meanwhile, MNS president Raj Thackeray said his party would go ahead with the protest march despite being denied the permission.

Seth said they did not know how many people would come for the march against the August 11 violence, but added that adequate steps had been taken to maintain law and order.

The senior police officer said proper crowd management mechanism would be in place and citizens should not have any apprehensions.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vivek Phansalkar said traffic regulation would be activated on the Girgaum-Azad Maidan route in South Mumbai.

Meanwhile, MNS president Raj Thackeray said his party would go ahead with the protest march though the police had denied permission for the same. He said the police had denied the permission on grounds that the morcha would lead to traffic congestion and create law and order problem.

The march has been organised to denounce the rioting at Azad Maidan, where two persons were killed and 52 others, including 44 policemen and media persons, injured when a protest over Assam clashes turned violent.

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