Breakaway Shiv Sena faction chief arrested

A day after activists of Rashtravadi Shivsena vandalised the Maharashtra Sadan in the capital in retaliation for attacks on north Indians, its chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal was arrested today.

A day after activists of Rashtravadi Shivsena, a breakaway faction of the Shiv Sena, vandalised the Maharashtra Sadan in the capital in retaliation for attacks on north Indians by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), its chief Jai Bhagwan Goyal was arrested on Tuesday.

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Goyal was arrested from Tilak Marg under New Delhi district Tuesday and will be produced in the court soon, a police official said.

About 20-25 Rashtravadi Shivsena activists had forcibly entered the Maharashtra Sadan Monday shouting slogans against MNS chief Raj Thackeray. They damaged windows and broke furniture of the reception and press room.

Goyal had Monday evening claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to increase the agitation if Thackeray was not arrested soon.

Meanwhile, a fire was reported at the Rashtravadi Shivsena office in Shahdara Tuesday morning. No one was injured.

Goyal told a Marathi news channel that his party would lay siege to the houses of all 48 MPs from Maharashtra and "make life difficult for them" if attacks against north Indians continued.

Mumbai has seen a spurt in attacks against non-Maharashtrians, especially people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. MNS activists disrupted a railway recruitment examination in Mumbai. Last month, suspected MNS activists lynched a labourer from Uttar Pradesh on a train.