MUMBAI: In a major development, the Maharashtra Police on Tuesday afternoon arrested Union Minister Narayan Rane for his ‘slap slur’ against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray amid heavy resistance from his supporters.
A team of police personnel went to Rane’s camp in Sangameshwar in Ratnagiri when he was en route on his ‘Jan Ashirwad Yatra’ in the Konkan region, reports IANS.
The developments came barely a couple of hours after Rane sharply dared that “nobody could do anything to him” or prevent him from “moving around freely”.
A team of senior police officers met Rane completed the arrest formalities even as a large number of his supporters and a huge posse of police were present.
An aide to the central minister Pramod Jathar claimed that no arrest warrant has been produced and the police pleaded that they were under ‘pressure’ to arrest Rane.
Jathar added that “there is the rule of law” in the state but the police were not following the due protocols, not showing the arrest warrant or other documents for the same.
Earlier, Rane had approached the Bombay High Court, seeking protection from arrest, after two FIRs were filed against him over his remarks about giving ‘a tight slap’ to Thackeray, who, Rane claimed, was ignorant of the year of India’s Independence.
According to media reports, Rane also sought quashing of the FIRs. Two FIRs were registered against Rane. While one of the complaints was registered in Pune on Tuesday, the other one was filed in Nashik.
Rane had also approached a court in Ratnagiri for anticipatory bail. However, the court refused to grant any relief citing that the case was registered in Nashik, beyond its jurisdiction.-IANS