Raj snubs police, to go ahead with march today
Raj Thackeray-led MNS is preparing for a major showdown with the government. The Mumbai police on Monday denied permission to the MNS to take out a morcha on Tuesday. Raj has called for a morcha and rally on Tuesday to demand the resignation of Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik and home minister R.R. Patil for being ineffective to control the Azad Maidan riots.
Reacting to the police’s refusal to grant permission for the morcha, Raj Thackeray said that he go ahead with the plans to hold morcha at any cost.
The police has allowed the MNS to hold rally at Azad Maidan, but denied permission for the morcha from Girgaum Chowpatty. They have also issued a notice to different MNS functionaries under Section 149, demanding that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches.
The notices warns that if any law and order problem occurs due to the rally then the organisers would be held responsible for it and legal action would be taken against them.
Reacting to police’s notice, Raj said, “I don’t care about the permission. I had applied for it. I will go ahead with my plans even if police do not grant permission.”
The MNS chief added that the police had been trying a lot of underhand tactics in a bid to ensure that the morcha does not go ahead. “We got information that vehicles carrying MNS cadres would be stopped. I called up the chief minister yesterday and told him about Patnaik’s tactics. I clearly told him that if the police try to put obstacles then the government would have to bear the consequences,” said Raj. He added that Prithviraj Chavan had assured him that there would be no attempts to stop them from taking out their morcha.
Raj further had an advice for Patnaik and Patil, “The police commissioner and home minister should sit quietly in their chairs at home and peacefully watch the morcha. If they try to stop us, then they won’t be able to handle the aftermath of it.”
The police officials said that close to 15,000 policemen would be on the streets on Tuesday to ensure that no untoward situation takes place.
The railway police has also beefed security at the railway stations in the city. The police are also expecting people to come from Pune, Nashik and other parts of the state to attend the morha and hence the security will be tightened. “More than 400 home guards and RPF personnel will be deployed. The inspectors of every post have been asked to keep vigil and teams have been prepared,” said Alok Bohra, senior divisional security commissioner, RPF, CR.
Twelve dog squads will be stationed at various railway stations.
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