Police detain MNS workers as loudspeaker row rages on
PUNE: Pune Police on Wednesday detained Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) General Secretary Ajay Shinde along with six others after they performed ‘Maha Aarti’ at Khalkar Hanuman Temple in the city.
Police officials said that they were detained as per preventive action. Over 250 MNS workers have been detained since morning for playing Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers, said Maharashtra Police.
This comes a day after MNS chief Raj Thackeray urged people to play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers wherever they hear ‘azaan’ on loudspeakers.
Amid the ongoing political row over the use of loudspeakers at mosques, Raj Thackeray had on May 1 said that if loudspeakers are not taken down then the Hanuman Chalisa would be played at double volume compared to Azaan (a call for prayer by Muslims) from May 4.
On Tuesday, Maharashtra Police registered a case against Thackeray over his speech at a rally held in Aurangabad on May 1. Police registered the case after seeing the viral videos of his public rally. Following this heavy police deployment has been made outside the MNS chief’s Shivaji Park residence in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police seized loudspeakers from the MNS office and detained the party’s Chandivali unit chief Mahendra Bhanushali and others on Tuesday. Notably, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday ordered the Police not to wait for anyone’s permission to maintain the law and order situation in the state. Thackeray held a meeting with Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Tuesday to review the law and order situation in the state considering the prevailing situation.