Raj claims cops also want Marathi signboards

Raj Thackeray yesterday claimed that Joint Commissioner of Police K L Prasad had written to Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak asking him for speedy implementation of the signboard law.

However, Phatak said he had not seen any such letter from Prasad. "I am out of town and have not seen any such letter till now," he said. Prasad told MiD DAY he would speak later.

Raj was trying to convey that even the police want the issue resolved.

Currently, it is not known if Prasad had sent this letter. But if he did, he probably meant that since the signboard issue is part of the BMC Act, Phatak should implement the clause as soon as possible to avoid further law and order problems.

Raj also said that he was not against any other community, but against the "banias" who don't give importance to the Marathi language. But he later clarified that by banias, he meant all traders and not a particular community.

1,100 MNS men arrested

More than 1,100 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists were arrested as a precautionary measure, as the deadline for putting up Marathi signboards ended yesterday. "We are not going to spare anyone if MNS volunteers resort to stone pelting. Precautions have been taken to ensure that there is no violence," Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) K L Prasad told MiD DAY.

Prasad said patrolling had been intensified. Any officer who failed to initiate action against agitators would have to face departmental enquiry and punishment.

A senior police officer, who did not want to be named, said that they had even made plans to detain MNS chief
Raj Thackeray if he resorted to violence. 

But even as the police geared up for the agitation, hundreds of businessmen still remained anxious whether the police would protect their properties in case of violence.