Sena smash and grab at TV channel office

Shiv Sena activists on Friday ransacked the offices of IBN Lokmat in Mumbai and Pune and beat up employees, accusing the Marathi news channel of running a campaign against chief Bal Thackeray.

Shiv Sena activists on Friday ransacked the offices of IBN Lokmat in Mumbai and Pune and beat up employees, accusing the Marathi news channel of running a campaign against chief Bal Thackeray.

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Taking responsibility for the attack, Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut called it a spontaneous reaction to the channel’s “tirade against Thackeray”.

At 4 p.m., Sainiks, armed with hockey sticks and stumps, barged into the Mumbai office. According to the channel, there were 20 of them. They slapped the receptionist, attacked editor-in-chief Nikhil Wagle and broke furniture.

A scuffle broke out and the the staff managed to catch seven of the vandals and hand them over to the police. Ten employees were injured but they were fine after getting first aid.

Minutes later, a similar attempt was made at the Pune office but alert policemen prevented major damage and arrested six Sainiks.