Virar Auto Driver Assault: 20 Held Over Anti-Marathi Remarks Incident
Twenty people were arrested for attacking an automobile driver for making anti-Marathi slurs, including Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS employees.
Palghar: Twenty people, including Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS office-bearers, have been charged by police for attacking an autorickshaw driver in Virar for making anti-Marathi comments and refusing to speak the language.
According to a police officer on Monday, no one was taken into custody. Thirteen of the twenty accused have been identified, the official said.
On July 12, a group of people, including women, slapped Raju Patwa, an auto driver from Uttar Pradesh, on a major route close to the Virar railway station, as seen in a widely shared video.
He was made to apologise to the entire state for “insulting” it and its language and cultural history, as well as to a man and his sister with whom he had reportedly misbehaved in the past.
The driver allegedly made disparaging statements about Maharashtra, Marathi symbols, and the Marathi language, according to activists.
A video footage that went viral on social media and sparked strong reactions from local political groups and online sparked the attack on the driver.
Uday Jadhav, the Shiv Sena (UBT) city leader of Virar, who was on the scene on Saturday, warned that anyone who disparages the Marathi language, Maharashtra, or Marathi people would receive a response in typical Shiv Sena fashion.
Police filed a formal complaint against 20 people in response to the incident, citing sections 189(2) (illegal assembly), 190 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of a common object), 191(2) (rioting), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation). The Maharashtra Police Act’s provisions have also been cited.
One of the police officers filed the FIR.
On July 12, about 20 people gathered illegally at the Marjetia Naka rickshaw stall in Virar. According to instructions from the MBVV (Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar) police commissioner, this gathering disregarded the present prohibitory orders,” the officer stated.
He claimed that the gang challenged rickshaw driver Raju Patva and was purportedly made up of Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS activists and office-bearers.
“They demanded that he speak Marathi, forced him to apologise, and then assaulted and threatened him,” he said.
He stated that while police investigate and confirm the responsibilities of each person listed in the FIR, no one has been taken into custody as of yet.
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