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Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is hesitant to arrest Raj Thackeray, President of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), as it would create a law and order problem though the police have detained two of his key aides and about 130 people in violence-related incidents.
On Monday morning, Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh filed a complaint against Thackeray at the Azad Maidan police station for criminal intimidation after several of his party workers were beaten up by MNS activists as part of their anti-North Indian tirade.
However, no action has been taken against Thackeray till now.
Thackeray, the estranged nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, however, continues to stick to his guns as he told a TV channel, CNN-IBN, that "we cannot be silent spectators when Mumbai is flooded with unwanted migrants. The city just cannot take any more migrants since its infrastructure will collapse one day."
He also remarked, "We are Mumbaikars, we want to save the city. My supporters have reasons to be agitated."
Not retracting from his earlier statements against film actor Amitabh Bachchan, he once again questioned, "What has he done for Mumbai or Maharashtra."
Bachchan should now come forward to contribute to this city and state, said Thackeray.
Close aides held
Meanwhile, a senior MNS leader, Atul Sarpotdar, told Gulf News that it is now up to Home Minister R.R. Patil to decide whether Thackeray should be arrested but the outcome is, "there will be a law and order problem. MNS has about 300,000 members," he claimed. Thackeray's close aides Shishir Shinde and Bala Nandgaonkar, the general secretaries of MNS, were picked up on Tuesday morning and detained by the police.
Even Congress party spokesman Sanjay Nirupam, who was leading a "peace" demonstration as a representative of North Indians to Thackeray's home in Shivaji Park, was also arrested.
MNS workers had earlier thrown stones at Nirupam's office in Andheri and shouted slogans against the ex-Sena leader, who is from Bihar.
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