The Maharashtra government on Tuesday cracked down on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which has been demanding removal of loudspeakers from mosques. On Tuesday, the police registered an FIR against the party chief, Raj Thackeray, and then made preventive arrests of its leaders.
Police personnel were also deployed outside mosques in sensitive areas. The development came hours before the MNS threatened to put up loudspeakers outside mosques and play Hanuman Chalisa. The MNS said the loudspeakers from mosques were causing noise pollution, were illegal and should be brought down.
Raj has been booked for his Aurangabad speech on Sunday under IPC sections 116, 117, and sections 143. Sections 115 and 117 pertain to abetment of the commission of an offence while 143 pertains to unlawful assembly.
There is a possibility that Raj could also send a notice under section 149 that empowers police to take preventive action. MNS leaders claimed the police are planning to arrest Raj Thackeray. The police action came while Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that there were ‘plans to create riots’ in the state by bringing in outsiders’.
Raj Thackeray already has a non-bailable warrant issued against him by a Sangli court in a 2008 matter.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil discussed the issue of the MNS threat, and it was decided that the MNS should not be given a free hand and action needed to be taken. Patil has also carried out meetings with the DGP and other senior police officials and asked them to take strong action to prevent any law-and-order problem in the state.
Maharashtra DGP Rajnish Seth on Tuesday held a press conference where he said that the leaves of all police personnel have been cancelled. “We are capable of tackling any law and order problem and are prepared for handling any situation. We have taken preventive action against 15,000 criminals and antisocial elements to ensure that they do not create any lawand-order issues. 87 companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) and 30,000 home guards have been spread across the state,” Seth said.
He added that they had served notices to 13,000 MNS functionaries, and ‘strict action’ would be taken against those disrupting public tranquillity. Police officials are also sending notices to MNS leaders to not make any statement or carry out any action that could lead to disturbing the peace in the state.
The Maharashtra police has also decided to ask all theatre owners in the state to remove the Marathi film, ‘Bhonga’ that focuses on the problems caused by loudspeakers in mosques.
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