Mumbai, November 28: Days after inspector general (Konkan range) Sukhwinder Singh termed the arrest of two girls hailing from Palghar as an irrelevant act of haste, the Shiv Sena has called for a bandh in the area on Wednesday. This, even as the charges against the two girls arrested for posting comments on Facebook criticising the general shutdown on Bal Thackeray cremation, remain to be dropped.
Singh, who had been asked to inquire into the arrests, had handed over report to Deven Bharti, special inspector general (law & order).
On Wednesday, Palghar opened to shops with downed shutters and a suspended train service, following the bandh call by the Shiv Sena, which has a clout in the area.
Earlier, in his report, Singh had termed the slapping of charges under the IPC and the IT Act as unwarranted. In fact, the report recommended action against the policemen for disobeying orders from their higher-ups, who had explicitly asked them not to arrest the girls.
Singh has submitted a 150-page report based on the statements of 15 people.
On Sunday, the Palghar police had arrested Shaheen Dhada for posting a comment on Facebook criticising the shutdown in Mumbai and the suburbs in the wake of Thackeray’s death. Her friend Rinu Sreenivasan had posted a ‘like’ comment.
Angry Shiv Sena supporters had ransacked the orthopaedic clinic of Dhada’s uncle. The police had arrested Dhada and Sreenivasan but had not taken any action against those who had vandalised the clinic.
Confirming having received the report, Bharti had said, “We have forwarded the report to the government for action.”
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