BOMBAY, 14 October 2006 – Taking offense to the editorial in Shiv Sena Hindi language mouthpiece “Dopahar Ka Saamna" published yesterday, which the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state leaders termed as "defamatory writing against their late party Kanshi Ram, the state unit of the BSP had filed historic 40 complaints under the Prevention of Atrocities Act against Sena chief Bal Thackeray and other staff of the newspaper.
The state unit chief of BSP, Viilas Garud speaking warned that if no action was taken immediately against Thackeray, the party would launch a state wide protest agitation against the Shiv Sena on the issue and further action plan would be announced at a press conference on Sunday, October 15.
Garud further disclosed that after the death of party leader Kanshi Ram, the Sena mouthpiece had published an editorial in which sarcastic and filthy language was used against the party and the late leader. The BSP, Garud said, has filed complaints against Bal Thackeray, the executive editor of the newspaper Prem Shukla and published Subash Desai at the Dadar police station.
Commenting on the complaints lodged by the BSP against Thackeray and others, the executive editor Prem Shukla said that he stood firmly by the contents of the editorial and said that the BSP action was only a publicity stunt to hog the limelight. Shukla alleged that the BSP was raking this issue only, as it did not have a presence in Maharashtra and they needed an issue for the coming civic body elections, hence the BSP was raking such an issue. "I have also filed cross complaint against the BSP" Shukla added.
In another development, Dr. Pavender Singh Pasricha, the Director General of Police, Maharashtra State, made a startling disclosure on Friday, when he stated that the bombers of the September 8, bomb blasts in Malegaon have been identified and their names would very soon be made public.
Regarding the July serial train blasts, Pasricha said that the Maharashtra polcie officials were examining links between the bombing of the London underground on July 7 last year and that of the July 7 serial train blasts and that a police team from London had held meetings with the Bombay police officials and analyzed the two terror attacks in details.
