In ’fake protest’, Raj Thackeray’s men bought car just to set it on fire

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Mumbai, March 1, 2013: On Wednesday, as members of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) clashed across Maharashtra after NCP workers stoned Mr Thackeray’s car in Ahmednagar, details now emerge as to how over-zealous MNS workers went the extra mile to please their boss.

An FIR filed by the Mumbai Police states that MNS cadre went and bought a second hand Maruti 800 car for Rs. 35,000 and set it on fire at LBS Marg in Kurla in Central Mumbai. The farcical show of anger - that created tension in Mumbai and large parts of Maharashtra - exposes the claims made by MNS leaders that the protests were "spontaneous".

Four accused - Mustaki Ahmad Ali Shaikh, Abdul Hussain Shaikh, Asif Ali Murtuja Shaikh and Shanhan Asif Ali Turki - were also arrested by the Kurla Police.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik had gone on record to say that the MNS staged artificial protests, even going to the extent, claiming the attack on Mr Thackeray was "performed" by MNS and not NCP workers.

The sporadic violence across Maharashtra started with Mr Thackeray’s anti-Pawar speeches in the NCP strongholds of Solapur and Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra where the MNS supreme alleged that the Pawar’s were responsible for the drought in the state which had aggravated because of the Rs. 70,000 irrigation scam.