Shiv Sena mocks CM Fadnavis for claiming Maharashtra’s law-and-order situation is good

Saamana, the party’s mouthpiece, slams its ally for not arresting the accused in Bhima Koregaon and Kamala Mills fire incidents

The Shiv Sena on Monday continued its diatribe against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government over the law-and-order situation in Maharashtra following the Bhima Koregaon violence and the Kamala Mills compound fire.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has raised questions about the ability of the state’s police machinery to apprehend the accused in the Bhima Koregaon and Kamala Mills fire incidents. (HT File Photo)

An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ slammed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for saying the law-and-order in the state was fine when the government has so far failed to arrest the accused in the Bhima Koregaon and Kamala Mills fire incidents.

Fadnavis, while addressing a curtain-raiser for an upcoming investment summit in Mumbai on Saturday, had said: “Even today, the law-and-order situation in Maharashtra is absolutely good, there is no problem with it.” Several industrial hubs across the state had witnessed unrest during last week’s Dalit protests.

“Even after the riots in Bhima Koregaon and the subsequent protests that went out of control, the chief minister is saying with confidence that law and order in the state is good, and there’s nothing to worry. We are happy, but the accused in the Kamala Mills compound fire are still at large, and who is putting pressure on the municipal commissioner? The state government has to give a reply to the people,” the editorial in the Marathi daily said.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday had raised questions about the ability of the state’s “police machinery” to apprehend the accused. There is a need to check whether the government is under “political pressure” to not the arrest the accused, Thackeray said. This statement came after civic chief Ajoy Mehta’s statement that he was under political pressure to not take action against restaurants violating fire safety norms.

The Sena also took on the state government for announcing rewards for the three accused in exchange for information on the three partner-owners of the pub 1Above in Kamala Mills. “The owners of 1Above are absconding after such an incident, and the police and the government have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to mock the victims of the fire. It means that the government is putting the responsibility of catching the accused on the people,” it said.