The Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded the immediate arrest of the leader of its breakway faction, Raj Thackeray, saying his remarks on 'Chatt Puja' have "hurt the religious sentiments" of the people of Bihar. Shiv Sena activists staged a demonstration here to protest Thackeray's comments and said if the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief is not arrested by the government, it would not augur well for the future of the country.

"Raj Thackeray has hurt the religious sentiments of the people of Bihar, which is an unforgivable offence," Shiv Sena north India chief Jai Bhagwan Goel said addressing the demonstrators.

"Shiv Sena does not differentiate between the people of Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh," he said and warned against "attempts to divide the countrymen".

Raj has recently criticised the celebration of Chatt Puja, a festival observed mainly in Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh, and 'Uttar Bharatiya Divas' in Mumbai.