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'What Thackeray has seen is only the trailer'

"What the Maharashtra government has shown to Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is just a trailer; the real thing is yet to come," Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said in Pune on Wednesday.

"The real thing will start when the government will implement the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission, which probed the 1992-93 communal riots in Bombay," Bhujbal said while addressing a function organised by the Ghatana Samarthan Samiti (Constitution Protection Committee). He said the government was also committed to implementing the recommendations of the Gundewar Commission.

He was felicitated by the samiti 'for arresting Thackeray and proving that nobody is above the law'.

Lampooning Thackeray for his reported utterance that the whole of country will burn if he (Thackeray) was arrested, Bhujbal said, "in that case, I assure you Mr Thackeray that another file against you will be prepared under the same section for which you are now facing the music."

Bhujbal said the Bombay high court's decision to admit the government's writ petition seeking to quash the order passed by an additional chief metropolitan magistrate dismissing the case under section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code against Thackeray 'has dampened the enthusiasm of Shiv Sainiks'.

He said the government would see to it that the Sena chief was 'made to account for all his alleged misdeeds'.

A near stampede was triggered during the function when Shiv Sena activists tried to disrupt the felicitation programme. However, nobody was injured as the police swung into action and rounded up the activists.

The trouble started when the president of the samiti Bhai Vaidya offered a floral mace signifying justice to Bhujbal. Sena activists sprang to their feet and created a commotion.

Nearly 300 activists of the Patit Pawan Sangathana and the Shiv Sena were detained and later released when they tried to demonstrate against Bhujbal's felicitation at the Jeejamata Udyan.

Earlier Reports

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