MUMBAI — Police yesterday filed cases against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray and Samajwadi Party president and member of Parliament Abu Asim Azmi for causing division among communities and inciting rioting.
“The cases against the two leaders pertain to causing enmity between ethnic groups which resulted in rioting and assault on several people in the state in the past 10 days,” police Deputy Commissioner Datta Karale said.
Raj has been accused of inciting his party workers to attack north Indians in Mumbai and other parts of the state.
Earlier yesterday, a mob of Shiv Sena workers led by the city unit chief Babasaheb Dhumal went on a rampage in the Hindu religious town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district raising slogans against south Indians. The mob damaged vehicles and destroyed 25 hoardings in Telugu language. A vast majority of people from neighboring Andhra Pradesh state live and work in Shirdi.
In Mumbai, police have provided security to the editorial and marketing offices of The Week magazine and Malayala Manorama newspaper after threats by MNS activists. The threat came after Raj Thackeray was portrayed as Hitler in the latest issue of the magazine that hit the stands Saturday.
