MNS leaders, activists detained ahead of protest rally in Thane district
Thane (PTI): Several leaders and activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) were detained by the police on Tuesday ahead of a proposed protest rally in Mira Bhayander town of Thane district.
Tensions prevailed in Mira Bhayander as police rounded up protestors who had gathered to participate in the rally proposed by the Marathi Ekikaran Samiti.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has maintained that permission had been granted for the rally, in which MNS leaders planned to participate, but the party insisted on a specific route which posed law and order challenges.
State Minister Pratap Sarnaik, however, has termed the police action as "wrong" and not in line with government directives.
Videos of several MNS activists, including women, packed in police vans have surfaced on social media, but the number of people detained has not been revealed.
Protesters shouted slogans against the government, criticising it for not allowing the morcha.
The police also confined several activists inside a banquet hall to prevent them from reaching the protest venue.
The MNS's Thane unit chief, Ravindra More, posted a video on social media, which showed activists detained inside the banquet hall, many of them holding black placards condemning the government.
"Our peaceful protesters were stopped even before they could reach the site. This is not democracy," More wrote in his post.
According to sources, the police started detaining MNS workers in the early hours of the day before they could arrive at the protest venue from different parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
"The preventive action was taken to maintain law and order," said an official, declining to comment on the use of a banquet hall as a detention space.
There is heavy police deployment in the Mira Bhayander town, as the situation remains tense.
Meanwhile, State Minister and Shiv Sena leader Pratap Sarnaik criticised the police for prohibiting the morcha, saying that the action was uncalled for and not in line with any government directive.
Speaking to reporters in Thane, Sarnaik said, "The police's action was completely wrong. The government has not issued any such instructions to suppress a peaceful morcha in support of Marathi interests."
He further asserted that he would discuss the matter with the chief minister.
"The manner in which the police stopped the morcha and detained people early in the morning is unjustified. If the protestors had been allowed to proceed peacefully, there would have been no law and order issue," he said.
Condemning the police action, the minister said he is also proceeding to participate in the morcha.
"This kind of attitude by the police is unwarranted, and if the Marathi-speaking people had sought permission for a peaceful morcha, the police should have permitted them," he said.
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt's wife Shwetambari Bhatt in a multi-crore rupees cheating case.
The top court also sought responses of Rajasthan Police and complainant Ajay Murdia, founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre and a resident of Udaipur, by February 18 and said it may consider a day after the bail plea of filmmaker Vikram Bhatt.
Murdia alleged in his complaint that Bhatt and his wife induced him to invest over Rs 30 crore in a biopic of his late wife, promising high returns.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Bhatts, and ordered forthwith release of Shwetambari Bhatt from Udaipur jail.
The bench asked the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Udaipur to pass the bail order delineating the terms and conditions for her release.
The top court also issued notices to complainant Ajay Murdia, the founder of Indira IVF and Fertility Centre and a resident of Udaipur, and the Rajasthan government for February 19.
Rohatgi said the director and his wife and others have been put behind bars.
"It is not so simple... Rs 30 crore fraud," the counsel for the state government said.
"But, you cannot use these cases to recover money," the bench said, adding that the complainant be also made a party to the petition.
"Unfortunately, they (petitioners) have not sought quashing of the FIR… How Rajasthan has been chosen? Very unfortunate," the bench said.
On January 31, the Rajasthan High Court rejected their bail applications in the cheating case.
The two have been in jail since December 7, 2025, when they were arrested in Mumbai and brought to Udaipur.
While rejecting their bail, the high court observed that granting bail to the accused at this stage would not be appropriate.
Vikram Bhatt was arrested after Murdia filed a complaint of cheating and criminal breach of trust against the filmmaker, his wife Shwetambari Bhatt and others, alleging that funds taken in the name of a film project were misappropriated.
The complaint has alleged that funds to the tune of Rs 30 crore were misappropriated. The complaint alleged that the Bhatts prepared fake bills under various names and got money transferred from the complainant.
The money was supposed to be for making films for the complainant, but was allegedly deposited into the accused's own accounts and used by them.
Apart from Vikram and his wife, Udaipur-based Dinesh Kataria and Bhatt's manager, Mehboob Ansari, were also arrested by Rajasthan Police on December 7, 2025.
