Friday, November 25, 2011

Pawar slap: Protests in Maharashtra

Harvinder Singh, who slapped Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar would be produced in a Delhi court on today.

Immediately after he slapped Pawar yesterday evening, Harvinder was taken to Barakhamba Road police station for interrogation. The Delhi police booked him under Section 323 (Causing hurt), 353 (Attack on public servant) and 506 (Criminal intimidation).

In Maharashtra, angry over the attack on their party chief, National Congress Party (NCP) workers have called for a bandh in Pune, Sangli and Beed.

Protesters were held in many parts of the state after reports trickled in about the attack on the Maratha strongman. Demonstrations were held in parts of Mumbai, NCP workers forced shop-owners to down their shutters in Sion, Dadar, Worli, and Kandivali areas among others.

Suburban rail services were also disrupted for a few minutes after party workers squatted on the tracks at Masjid Bunder and Kurla stations.

Protests were held in other parts of the state like Nashik, Kolhapur, Latur.

In Delhi, as the Parliament is in session, NCP MPs may raise the issue in the house.

Harvinder Singh is from Rohini in Delhi and is the son of a transporter. He was reportedly upset with Pawar over the persistent rise in essential commodities and growing corruption in the country.

Pawar (71), who went to a literary function at a public auditorium on Parliament Street, was caught unawares when he was slapped by Harvinder Singh, who had assaulted former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram outside a court on Saturday last after he was sentenced in a corruption case.

The NCP veteran and one of the seniormost politicians in the country, who has very little security, lost his balance for a moment but regained composure after the assault, moved towards the exit of the auditorium and got into his waiting car.

A news agency quoted police sources said that during interrogation, Harvinder Singh reportedly claimed that actually he wanted to target Mukherjee but gave up the idea because of his age.

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