Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray Sena meets top cop over July 1 morcha

Yuva Sena President Aaditya Thackeray. File Pic/Ashish Raje

The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Tuesday sought permission from Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar to hold a protest against alleged irregularities in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 1. A delegation of Sena (UBT) leaders met senior officials and expressed their intent to hold a march from Byculla to Azad Maidan. However, the police denied them permission to do so, suggesting they take the route from Metro INOX Cinemas to the iconic ground.

The delegation expressed willingness to amend the plan and submit a separate letter reflecting the changed location. After the meeting, Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray, met Special Commissioner Deven Bharti. According to sources in the department, the former discussed the security of Matoshree, which was recently reduced by the police, and he also talked about the political situation in the state. The delegation was led by Sena (UBT) leaders Arvind Sawant, Sunil Prabhu, Anil Desai and Ajay Choudhari.

Sawant told media persons at Phansalkar's office, "Our protest on July 1 is against the civic body. We have submitted a letter to the local police, stating that the issue is regarding the route we have chosen for the protest. The police have requested us to avoid that route and have suggested an alternative. We will soon receive permission for the proposed alternative route."

"We will cooperate with the police in maintaining law and order. The police have suggested taking the protest directly to Azad Maidan from Metro cinema, but due to the rainy season, we are reluctant to take that route. We usually organise our speeches near the Times of India building. The stage will be set up nearby," he added.

Recently, Uddhav Thackeray announced a prolonged protest, led by his son Aaditya Thackeray, in the wake of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's directive that an investigation be launched into the alleged irregularities and a special investigation team (SIT) be set up. The estimated value of the alleged scam is Rs 12,000 crore. The SIT will be headed by Phansalkar, with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) conducting the investigation under the supervision of Joint Commissioner Nishith Mishra.

Rs 12,000 cr
Value of ‘scam' being probed by SIT