In what could turn out to be the Shiv Sena's first major aggressive protest in Maharashtra in the absence of former supremo Bal Thackeray, the Mumbai police is taking no chances to ensure that the book launch of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri at the Nehru Centre in Worli, Mumbai, passes off peacefully. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reports
To prevent any untoward incident in the backdrop of Shiv Sainiks blackening the face of Observer Research Foundation chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni on Monday morning, the state administration has put into action 300 troops from the Mumbai police, the State Reserve Police Force, the Mumbai Riot Control police (one platoon = 30 men) to prevent any disruption inside or outside the venue in Worli.
"We will ensure that there is no law and order issue during the event. To ensure that we have got appropriate numbe of cops on duty," Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti told Rediff.com.
Also read: Why the Shiv Sena threw ink on Sudheendra Kulkarni
He however did not divulge the number of cops stationed around the venue.
A senior cop manning one of the four check points, however told Rediff.com that more than 300 personnel have been posted around the venue.
Elaborate arrangements at the check points before one enters the actual venue have been put in place to check the baggage and identity of the general public and media entering the venue.
The main gate at the entrance has been barricaded by a posse of cops.
We are always prepared for any eventuality," Bharti said when asked if he was expecting trouble or disruption of the event from the Sena.
The Sena seems to have tugged on to the sensitive issue of India-Pakistan relations and border in the absence of any serious issue to stay politically relevant in the state, even as it finds the Bharatiya Janata Party and its fringe appropriating the Hindutva issue and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena emerging as a competitor when it comes to the issue of the Marathi Manoos.
