Palghar case: 9 arrested for ransacking clinic

, Nov 20:

police on Tuesday arrested nine people from Palghar for allegedly ransacking the clinic of the uncle of the woman who was arrested on Monday for posting a comment on Facebook questioning the shutdown in Mumbai following the death of

patriarch Bal Thackeray. A friend of her was also arrested.

It was, however, not clear whether the arrested belonged to the Shiv Sena.

Irate Shiv Sainiks allegedly vandalised a hospital owned by the woman's uncle to protest the anti-Bal Thackeray post on the social networking site. They also lodged a complaint with the local police. Acting on the complaint, the police later arrested the woman and her friend from nearby Thane district.

It is learnt that the 21-year-old accused Shaheen Dhadha said on her Facebook account: "People like Thackeray are born and die daily and one should not observe a bandh for that." A friend of her, identified as Renu, who 'liked' the comment was also held. The duo were reportedly booked under Section 295(a) of the IPC (for hurting religious sentiments) and Section 64(a) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

They were later granted bail on surety of Rs 15,000 each. Shaheen, it was said, withdrew her comment and apologised before the vandalism took place.

Press Council of India Chairman and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju slammed the incident later in the day and wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, saying the arrest was absurd and demanded immediate action against the guilty police officers. Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal also criticised the incident and said the Maharashtra police mishandled the law and the government could intervene to put things in order.

OneIndia News