Mumbai, September 7
Curfew was extended in Sangli and Miraj towns of western Maharashtra on Monday and several senior leaders of the Shiv Sena and the BJP were taken into preventive custody following communal tension that erupted over a poster during Ganesh Utsav festivities last week. The curfew in these neighbouring towns, around 400 km from here, has been extended till 2 pm on Tuesday.
It all began on Anant Chaturdashi day -- September 3 -- when Hindu Sangathan, a pro-Hindutva body, allegedly tried to raise an arch on the Ganesh idol immersion procession route, depicting murder of Mughal warrior Afzal Khan by king Shivaji, as recorded in the Maratha history, the police said. This led to a clash between the two groups and violence that had repercussions in Sangli city also.
Following the developments, the authorities in Miraj and Sangli, as a precautionary measure, prevented members of the Hindu and Muslim communities from taking out processions.
Subsequently, Hindu Sanghatan members refused to immerse the idols of Ganpati to register protest against the police crackdown on their arches and banners. But the authorities rushed in reinforcements and began immersing the idols. BJP and Shiv Sena leaders who sought to mobilise their supporters in favour of the Hindu Sanghatan were facing a crackdown.
Sangli SP Krishna Prakash said Shiv Sena leaders Neelam Gorhe, Parshuram Upkar and Diwakar Raote had been arrested for allegedly violating prohibitory orders. The leaders had rushed from Mumbai to meet the members of some Ganesh Utsav mandals in the towns, who had not immersed the Ganpati idols to protest the disturbances.
In Mumbai, the police detained senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde before he could board a flight to Kolhapur, the nearest airport for Sangli and Miraj. BJP legislators Prakash Shendgle and Madhu Chavan were prevented from entering into Sangli on Sunday.
BJP workers alleged the police tore up Munde's boarding pass and detained him. Outside the departure terminal, the police also lathicharged the gathered BJP workers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Brajesh Singh said Munde was prevented from leaving for Sangli as the authorities apprehended a threat to public order if he was allowed to address a public meeting there. Meanwhile, the police said more than 300 persons from both communities had been arrested for indulging in violence.
