Give me power, will show how to deal with criminals: Raj Thackeray

Mumbai, Aug 24: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday tore into the Congress-led Maharashtra state government over the growing crimes in the state capital and across the state. Speaking in an interview to English news channel Times Now, Thackeray was particularly critical of the state home minister, R R Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), saying the latter had no capability to hold the post but yet continued. He also criticised NCP chief Sharad Pawar and said he kept Patil in the state to keep him updated.

Thackeray asked why Patil was returned to the home department after he was removed in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai massacre. he mocked the minister, saying the latter had no qualification, "not even the height".

He said the population of the Maximum City was increasing because immigrants were moving in from other parts of the country, particularly North India, but the authorities were not careful enough to know their whereabouts, hence putting the city's security at risk. Thackeray was sympathetic towards the city's police force, saying the latter was helpless as it depended on the political masters.

"Unless the government changes, nothing will change. We have the laws but their implementation is not there," Thackeray said, adding that he would show how to deal with criminals if he was given the power to rule. Thackeray was also critical of the media, alleging that it did not give fair coverage to all incidents of crime.

Mumbai and other parts of India were outraged after a 22-year-old journalist was gangraped by five men inside an abandoned factory in a busy location in south Mumbai around 6 pm on Thursday. Her male colleague was tied to a tree before the woman was attacked. Politicians, celebrities, journalists and common people condemned the incident and demanded strong action against the culprits.

A young medical student was gangraped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus in New Delhi in December last year, leading to her death after two weeks. The incident had sparked off a massive storm in the country and also forced the government to initiate legislation to deal with such crimes strictly.

OneIndia News