Day after, Mumbai on alert but business as usual

Mumbai: Police were on alert but it was business as usual on Thursday with relieved Mumbaikars going about their daily activities and taxis plying normally, a day after tension spiralled following the arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.

The violence that sparked in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra with the arrest of the MNS chief on Wednesday afternoon simmered down with the same speed when Thackeray was released on bail within two hours.

"The situation was tense only when Thackeray was arrested but now that he has been released the city is back to normal," college student Vinayak Garg said.

Local trains and buses ran full with office goers and college students. Taxis and rickshaws, which were targeted and had temporarily stopped Wednesday evening, were on the streets immediately after Thackeray's release. He and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi were arrested on charges of inciting ethnic hatred and bailed out soon after.

"When Thackeray was arrested, there were only few stray cases of stone pelting in the city and nothing serious," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) KL Prasad. "The police force will continue to be on high alert for 24 hours more," Prasad said.

According to psychologist Ajay Tamhane, the moment Thackeray was arrested and produced before the court, people panicked and rushed towards their homes assuming that the city would be set on fire by MNS activists.

Taxi driver Shyam Yadav said they were unnecessarily targeted and their business went dry after Thackeray's arrest. "No taxi driver wanted to go in the streets after the arrest fearing for his life and his taxi."

"Almost all taxis in the city went off the streets after Thackeray's arrest but started plying within half hour of the court granting Thackeray bail," Bombay Taximen's Union secretary AL Quadros said.

MNS activists went on a violent rampage in several parts of Maharashtra in the two hours when the central suburban Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate was hearing the case registered against Thackeray by the Mumbai Police. He was released on bail for Rs 15,000.

The state government and the police force had been on high alert for two days when speculation was rife about Thackeray's possible arrest.

State president of the Samajwadi Party Azmi was also arrested by the Mumbai police at the same time and was granted bail by the south Mumbai Bhoiwada court for Rs 10,000.

Several state run buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws were burnt and pelted with stones by MNS supporters. The worst affected in the state were Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Solapur and Manmad, with one person being killed in Nashik.

Thackeray and Azmi were arrested after the police had filed suo motu cases against them for inciting hatred amongst two ethnic groups by using invectives and provocative language.