Arrests of Raj Thackeray and Abu Asim Azmi
Raj Thackeray and SP leader Abu Asim Azmi were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between groups on the basis of place of birth, residence, etc.) and 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) on 11 February. The police also applied section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to both politicians and warned them not to hold any press conferences or rallies in the next seven days. On 13 February, however, police arrested both the leaders. Later that day, a local court granted Raj conditional bail and ordered him not to make any speeches that would inflame public tension. He obtained a release after furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 15,000. Azmi was arrested and taken to the Bhoiwada court in South Central Mumbai and was released on surety of Rs. 10,000.
Raj appealed before the court against the gag order imposed on him, stating that he had to move around different places in Maharashtra for propounding the philosophy of his party and that such an order was an infringement of his 'fundamental rights'. On 22 February, the court dismissed his appeal to re-track the extension of the gag order passed against him, following which MNS started a signature campaign to get support against the gag order. According to MNS, Maharashtrian actors Nana Patekar and Shreyas Talpade had shown support in opposing the gag order, along with actors Salman Khan and Suneil Shetty. Salman Khan and Suneil Shetty, however, later denied the MNS's claim. This move by MNS prompted the police to serve a show cause notice to Raj, asking him why the gag order should not be extended.
Over 1,800 activists were put under arrest for substantive offences and as a preventive measure since violence had erupted on the streets of Mumbai on 13 February, according to the Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Police (Law and Order), K. L. Prasad.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Attacks On Uttar Pradeshi And Bihari Migrants In Maharashtra
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