MNS men vandalise Gujarati signboards

Mumbai: Hours after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray claimed in his rally that he does not want communal clashes, his party workers allegedly vandalised Gujarati signboards of a few restaurants on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.

The incident took place on Sunday night when the MNS party workers were returning after attending Mr Thackeray’s rally in Shivaji Park.

The police is in the process of registering cases after which arrests would be made, said a senior police officer. They allegedly vandalised signboards with Gujarati text of at least six hotels in Vasai, along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway 8.

After attending Mr Thackeray’s Gudi Padwa speech, they took a halt near Satavli village in Vasai, situated at the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. The spot where they had taken a halt had six dhaba-style hotels, with their signboards written in Gujarati. The MNS workers then allegedly vandalised the signboards, by tearing it up in pieces and spreading terror in the vicininityamong the hotel owners.

In his speech, Mr Thackeray had objected  to the use of the Gujarati language on the hotel and highway signboards.

Roshan Rajtilak, additional superintendent of Vasai police, said: “Acting upon the hotel owners complaints that their signboards were torn and vandalised, the Waliv police is in the process of registering the cases for the riots and the mayhem.”

He added “The accused will be booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The arrest will be made shortly.”

Kundan Sankhe, an MNS leader from Boisar, said, “We had earlier asked the hotel owners to take down the banners and signboards in Gujarati, but since they did not take our request seriously, we were compelled to take this step.”

Another four MNS workers have been booked for vandalising the signboard of a Kandivali snack shop as the name was written in Gujarati and not Marathi. A case of rioting has been registered against them.