11 Karni Sena members held

Mumbai: Eleven members of Karni Sena were arrested by the Vashi police on Tuesday for burning tyres and creating a riot-like situation on the Navi Mumbai highway on Monday night. The protest had taken the police by surprise as it was not expecting agitations in Navi Mumbai on Monday against the movie Padmaavat. According to police officials, a massive protest organised by Karni Sena activists near Vashi late on Monday evening disrupted traffic on the Pune-Panvel Expressway for around 20 minutes. This is the first time the police has arrested those protesting against the movie in the state. On January 12, the Mumbai police had detained 96 Karni Sena supporters.  

The Karni Sena members were protesting against Padmaavat’s Thursday release. A Vashi police officer said, “The protestors were raising slogans, saying, ‘Nahi chalegi, Padmaavat nahi Chalegi’ (Padmavaat won’t be screened).” The protestors set tyres ablaze and attempted a roadblock, halting vehicular movement. Hapless commuters were stranded on the road with traffic congestion making it difficult to even take a U-turn.

Sudhakar Pathare, DCP (zone 1), Navi Mumbai said, “On Monday, several protestors gathered near the highway and protested for almost 20 minutes. We immediately stopped them and arrested 11 of the protesters.” The police arrested the protesters under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 141 (show of criminal force,) 142 (being member of an unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons), 146 (rioting), 427 (mischief causing damage worth Rs 50). A Navi Mumbai court on Tuesday remanded the 11 arrested men to police custody till Friday.  

Karni Sena, which was going to hold protests in Vile Parle on Tuesday, cancelled it. The police in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai on Tuesday deployed their personnel outside several movie theatres for the safety of moviegoers. 

Thane Police PRO Sukhada Narkar said, “We have deployed police officials to make the safety of the movie goers.”