Click to play videoNew Delhi: The Mumbai police finally cracked down on the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and arrested party chief Raj Thackeray under different sections of IPC for promoting enmity between communities.
Raj Thackeray came out from his Shivaji Park residence in a blue sweater and got into the police van before being taken to the Vikhroli court in a convoy amid high security. There was tight security in the court premises too.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi, too, was arrested from his residence in Colaba around the same time.
Azmi was granted bail by by the Bhoiwada Court about an hour after his arrest even though the police had opposed the bail plea.
The police had earlier filed an FIR against the MNS chief under Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on the basis of places of birth, residence etc) 153D (assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 117 (abetting the commission of any offence by the public) of the IPC.
All of these charges are cognizable and non-bailable offences.
A Mumbai police team consisting of 16 top police officers and over 200 personnel, arrived at Raj Thackeray's residence at around 1230 hrs IST on Wednesday and arrested him at about 1618 hrs IST even as police and paramilitary forces maintained tight security around the city in anticipation of a possible backlash by MNS workers.
One battalion of Rapid Action Force and three strike force of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) guarded the police team.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, the police had arrested MNS state General Secretary Vasant Gite as a preventive measure.
Gite, a former Shiv Sena leader, was one of the first to join MNS when Raj Thackeray left the Sena and formed his outfit.
Three leaders of MNS have also been taken into preventive custody, Police Commissioner S M Sayyad told PTI and claimed that the total numbers of arrests have gone up to 126 since Tuesday.
There was strong security presence in the vicinity of Raj Thackeray's residence and the movement of the people was being regulated since Tuesday.
The police had detained dozens of MNS workers since Tuesday night in anticipation of trouble in the event of Raj Thackeray's arrest. The MNS state secretary, Vasant Gite, was also arrested in Nashik on Wednesday morning.
The Maharashtra Government had requisitioned paramilitary forces to meet any eventuality and security has been beefed in different parts of the city in case they are arrested.
The state authorities had started deploying Central paramilitary forces from Tuesday evening in Mumbai and other key cities across the state in anticipation violence. A few companies of Rapid Action Force and four companies of Central Reserve Police Force have also been deployed in Mumbai.
There were incidents of stone pelting and assault in different parts of the state - including Nashik, Pune, Jalna, Beed, Aurangabad and Latur towns — on Tuesday in protest against the police action. MSN activists also targeted public property including state transport buses in most of the cases.
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