Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Tuesday said the decision to arrest Raj Thackeray was not taken suddenly, but due to the fact that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena workers were taking the law into their own hands.
Speaking to reporters soon after the arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Deshmukh said, "This is not a sudden decision. We took this decision because nobody is above law. Law is same for everyone."
On Sunday, MNS activists had ransacked railway examination centres in Mumbai and also attacked many job aspirants who had come to the city from north Indian states to appear for the railway board exams.
The MNS activists were angry over the fact that local Marathi people were not made aware of the exams as there were no advertisements in any of the local Marathi newspapers regarding these jobs.
When the students reached the examination centres, they were beaten by MNS activists, which led to the cancellation of the exams in some places.
Pressure was building up on the Maharashtra government after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stated that action must be taken against Raj Thackeary as he was causing danger to the unity of the country.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said that Raj Thackeray was insane and had no right to attack poor students who had come to appear for exams.
At 2.30 am on Tuesday, the Maharashtra police arrested Raj Thackeray in Ratnagiri on the western coast of Maharashtra for promoting enmity and creating communal disturbance in the state.
Raj Thackeray was taken in police van from Ratnagiri and is being brought to Mumbai.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor stated that he will ask for police custody for Raj Thackeray and not judicial custody after he is produced in the Bandra court on Tuesday afternoon.
