Police on Wednesday arrested five Shiv Sena activists in connection with the assault on Bhartiya Janata Party MP Kirit Somaiya and his supporters at suburban Mulund here.
The assault took place after Sena workers allegedly disrupted a programme organised by Somaiya against corruption in Sena-BJP ruled Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) where an effigy of 'corruption mafia in MCGM' was to be burnt to mark the festival of Dussehra last evening, the police said.
"We registered an offence against Shiv Sena activists and arrested five people under IPC 324, 323, 504, 506 and relevant sections," said senior police inspector Madhav More of Navghar Police Station.
Those arrested early this morning include Kiran Nande (40), Nilesh Sawant (37), Nilesh Thakkar (42), Sunil Gore (41) and Kishore Bhoir (42), all residents of Mulund East.
Also, three persons including a woman were injured in the clashes which erupted between workers of both the parties, after Sena activists objected to the effigy burning as they are in power in MCGM and tried to stop the programme, police said.
However, police intervened and brought the situation under control, Ashok Dudhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, said. MCGM is ruled by the Sena-BJP alliance for the last 20 years and civic polls are scheduled early next year.
Somaiya, a former Mumbai BJP chief, has aggressively targeted Sena and has repeatedly alleged that civic body was riddled with "mafia-raj and corruption".
The MP who represents the Northeast Mumbai constituency, had said yesterday that he will continue his fight against the "mafia-raj and corruption in MCGM".
Last week, Somaiya had said that his party was "prepared" to contest civic polls alone.
Mumbai and nine other Municipal Corporations in Maharashtra would go to polls next February. Civic elections are also scheduled in Nagpur, Nasik, Pune and Thane.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray yesterday dared the BJP to contest Mumbai civic polls independently and said that his party will show its “surgical strike” in upcoming BMC elections.
In a reference to Somaiya, Thackeray said, "From BJP, anyone gets up and speaks of contesting polls independently. The Chief Minister should first decide who is the leader. Don't stab us in the back.”
