Amravati MP Navneet Kaur & her husband sends to judicial custody after Hanuman Chalisa row

|HT|

The Maharashtra MP-MLA couple - who were locked in a standoff with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray - have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Amravati MP Navneet Kaur and her husband Ravi Rana were arrested on Saturday over allegedly inciting the public after they gave a warning to the CM that they will chant ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ outside his Bandra home - ‘Matoshree’. The couple had earlier on Saturday alleged that they were not allowed to leave their home because of a huge deployment of cops and a massive protest by the Shiv Sena workers. They had warned they would chant the hymn in praise of the Hindu God outside the CM’s home, challenging his stance on Hindutva.

Later,however, the lawmaker duo backed off, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mumbai on Sunday. "Our aim was fulfilled, though Ravi Rana and I couldn't reach 'Matoshree' (Thackeray's Mumbai residence), 'Hanuman Chalisa' that was supposed to be chanted by us was chanted by bhakts," Navneet Rana said shortly before her arrest.

"Shiv Sena has become a party of goons. Uddhav Thackeray only knows how to file offenses against people and put them behind bars. He's creating a Bengal-like situation in Maharashtra," she added. Shortly after, the independent MP-MLA couple were arrested for inciting public The Ranas have been booked under Indian Penal Code 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and section 135 (violation of prohibitory orders of police) of the Maharashtra Police Act.

The political drama has intensified with the BJP’s Kirit Somaiya throwing his weight behind the couple. He alleged last night that over 100 Shiv Sena members tried to attack him when he went to meet the couple at a Mumbai police station on Saturday night.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)