Mumbai, Feb 12: The Maharashtra Police on Wednesday arrested Raj Thackeray along with a number of protesters for disrupting traffic at many places as the state-wide 'rasta roko' against toll plazas called by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief began today.
Thackeray, who was scheduled to lead the stir at the Vashi toll plaza in adjoining Navi Mumbai, was arrested by the Mumbai Police in Chembur.
MNS activists, including representatives of its women's wings, stormed roads and highways on the outskirts of Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Raigad, Nashik and other areas, attempting to halt the morning peak hour traffic.
Police took MNS workers into custody at several places including Pune, Ahmednagar and Vasai.
In Thane, tyres were burnt, while in Pune MNS workers deflated tyres of some vehicles.
In Dahisar, a suburb of Mumbai, a group of hundred people led by MNS MLA Pravin Darekar began protesting near Dahisar toll plaza. But nobody was detained from the spot, police said.
In Pune, about 25 MNS activists were rounded up by police when they tried to disrupt traffic at Chandani chowk along Pune-Mumbai highway in response to the 'rasta-roko'.
Tyres of some heavy vehicles were deflated by the party workers, led by former MNS corporator Rajabhau Gorde, in the demonstration at Chandani chowk.
A similar protest near 'Amritanjan' bridge along the highway disrupted vehicular traffic temporarily, police said, adding that a heavy bandobast has been put at various points in the city leading to highways where the toll collection booths are set up.
Police, accompanied by Rapid Action Force, were out in large numbers, stopping, catching and detaining hundreds of MNS activists.
On Tuesday, police had served a notice to Thackeray warning against participating in the agitation. The agitation continued even as Mumbai police served notices on nearly 400 MNS office-bearers and activists on Wednesday, asking them to exercise restraint.
"We have received the notice asking us to refrain from any activity that could result in law and order problems. We keep getting such notices everytime we launch any agitation program," said a MNS spokesperson.
Undeterred by the notice, Thackeray, whose supporters vandalised scores of toll plazas across the state over the last fortnight, said traffic on the state highways was stopped from 9 AM.
However, school vehicles and college students were not prevented by the activists and allowed to proceed to their institutions as usual, as also ambulances and other essential services. Thackeray had promised yesterday that life in cities would not be affected. "We have decided to exclude schools and colleges from the stir in view of exams. The cities won't be affected by the stir," he had said.
"A person from the state government was in touch with me on the phone requesting me to call off the stir," the MNS leader had said yesterday.
Preparing for a defiant MNS, the police and the government machinery was geared up to handle the road blocks with security personnel deployed at sensitive locations, major roads, highways, junctions and entry-exit points to cities like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Aurangabad, Nagpur and others.
Security has also been beefed up at the 145 toll collection booths across the state.
In the past few weeks, activists purportedly of the MNS vandalised several toll booths in places like Kolhapur, Thane, Mumbai, Aurangabad and Pune.
The latest round of anti-toll agitation started on January 26 at a Navi Mumbai rally when Raj Thackeray urged people not to pay toll and last Sunday he announced the state-wide road blockade programme in Pune.
The MNS has made it clear that all toll collections should be stopped for projects where the costs have been recovered and even in others, the rates should be rationalized.
A grim Home Minister RR Patil had warned on Tuesday the government would not hesitate to arrest Thackeray to prevent any law and order issues.
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