After a whole day of high drama on Saturday, BJP MP Navneet Rana from Maharashtra and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, were arrested and booked for allegedly promoting enmity among different groups. But, soon after, the Rana couple refused to seek bail and told their lawyers that they should not do so as well on their behalf.
“We will stay inside as a mark of protest against the false case and wrongful arrest,” the couple said after lodging a counter-complaint against Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Sources close to the Amravati MP and her husband said their medical procedure was over and they will be produced before a Bandra holiday court on Sunday.
The police took them into custody hours after the couple cancelled their plan to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ in Mumbai. Shiv Sainiks had staged a massive protest outside the couple’s Khar residence, demanding an apology from them.
Shiv Sena workers broke through the barricades and tried entering the premises of the Khar residence of Navneet and Ravi Rana. But the situation was brought under control, police said, adding that the politician couple was asked not to step out of their home as the situation might escalate. “Around 8.45 am, angry Shiv Sena supporters broke through the barricades, placed at a distance of around 50 m from the building, where the Ranas own a flat in Khar. They tried to enter the apartment premises. The party workers raised slogans in support of CM Thackeray and dared the couple to step out of the residence,” police said. Mumbai Police had served a notice to the couple, asking them not to disturb the law and order situation in the city after they told reporters that they will recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray’s family residence if he did not agree to read it.
With inputs from News18, PTI
