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Maharashtra Sadan vandalised

Staff Reporter

Three held as Rashtrawadi Sena activists protest attacks on north Indians

— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

The Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi, which was vandalised by some miscreantson Monday.

NEW DELHI: In protest against the recent attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra, over two-dozen activists of the Rashtrawadi Sena indulged in violence at the Maharashtra Sadan here on Monday seeking the immediate arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray.

Three persons have been arrested.

Raising slogans such as “Arrest Raj Thackeray under the National Security Act” and “Marathis go back,” the protesters hurled flower pots, breaking several window panes of the Sadan.

The attackers entered the building in small groups after pushing aside security guards at the entrance.

“Nearly two-dozen people barged into the reception hall, picked up chairs and hurled them at the reception counter glass. They then broke windowpanes and upturned flowerpots. We watched in horror as they went on the rampage. The drama went on for about 10 minutes. The police were informed after they left the compound,” said Pramod, a reception officer.

Senior journalist B.S. Ambekar, who had come to attend an Indian Languages Newspapers Association executive meeting, said: “I was standing a few metres away from the gate when a group of young men entered the compound and resorted to vandalism. They had come on foot and threw leaflets of the Rashtrawadi Sena. A few minutes after they left, two policemen on a motorcycle reached the spot and caught three of them who were fleeing on foot.”

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who visited the Sadan soon after the incident, condemned the attack.

Mumbai Special Correspondent reports:

Deshmukh seeks probe

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has condemned the attack. He said there must be an immediate inquiry and the culprits brought to book. Maharashtra Sadan was the administrative office of the State government in New Delhi and the State had taken a very serious note of the incident. Those working there would be given full protection against such attacks, he said.

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