Senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi courted arrest at Belapur on Thursday along with party workers as part of the 'jail bharo andolan' to protest the Mahamumbai special economic zone of Reliance [Get Quote] group in Raigad.

Speaking to reporters at the CBD Belapur police station, Joshi said, "Shiv Sena would support the poor farmers whose land is being acquired forcibly by the Maharashtra government."

The agitation, he said, would be further intensified if the state government did not amend the land acquisition policy for SEZs.

Regarding the stone-pelting by protestors at the venue, Joshi said, "some persons with vested interests who wanted to sabotage the protest rally had indulged in the act."

He said he will conduct an enquiry into what led to stone-pelting. The former Lok Sabha Speaker said he will raise the issue of SEZ in the on-going Monsoon Session of the Parliament.

India's great rush for SEZs