Pune freezes under Sena clout over statue row

Pune, Dec 28: The Sena has unleashed its eccentricities with Pune coming to a standstill after the Shiv Sena and the BJP declared a bandh to protest the removal of Dadoji Konddeo's statue from the Lal Mahal. Dadoji Konddeo is considered the 'guru' of Chhatrapati Shivaji, a revered Maratha figure.

The statue was removed from Pune's Lal Mahal and placed in a municipal garden of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

The situation bore witness to a lot of violent acts with the Shiv Sena and MNS sharpening their claws to highlight the issue and voicing their thoughts in harsh words. The Hindu hardliners organised a morcha to protest the moving of the statue. Both Bal Thakceray and Uddhav Thackeray have given their full support to go ahead with the protests till the statue is installed back to its rightful place.

A bandh has led to normal life coming to a standstill except for essential services. Shops, offices, schools, colleges and other establishments will remain closed from 6 am to 5 pm. Sainiks went on a rampage throughout the city and disrupted train services, pelted stones at six buses. 15 sainiks were arrested and 6000 police personnel have been deployed in Pune to rule out any cases of violence.

“We want the bandh to be happen in a democratic way. But if the police harasses us, it will be difficult to stop the party workers," said Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe and added, “The PMC removed the statue secretly early morning as they were afraid of live media coverage of the incident."

OneIndia News