Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Tuesday denied that MP Navneet Rana, who was lodged at Khar police station, had been treated unfairly by the local police. Rana, who along with her husband MLA Ravi Rana, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Saturday had in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla alleged that she was denied water and subjected to casteist slurs. The Lok Sabha Speaker had sought details about the incident from the Maharashtra government. “It does not appear that any wrong treatment was meted out to Navneet Rana in the lockup. However, since the Lok Sabha Speaker has sought information about the incident, we will provide the details,” Walse Patil said. “The action taken by the Mumbai Police has been as per law. There has been no wrongdoing and we will provide all the necessary details to the central government.” After the Ranas were arrested on Saturday for attempting to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree – Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence – they were kept at Khar police station. On Sunday, Navneet was moved to the Byculla women prison where she is currently lodged. In her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Navneet alleged that she was put up in a lock-up without due regards to the office held by her, was not given drinking water while in police custody and was abused on the basis of her caste when she demanded water. A senior official of the Mumbai Police denied the allegations and mentioned that they have CCTV footage and statements of other inmates at the police station to prove that the allegations are baseless. “All the evidence will be sent to the Lok Sabha Speaker,” the officer said. Meanwhile, on Tuesday afternoon, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya who had suffered minor abrasions outside Khar police station on Saturday evening when he went to meet the Ranas, appeared before the Khar police again along with CISF security personnel and a battery of lawyers. Somaiya told the media that the FIR registered in connection with the attack on him was incorrect and sought to show that Shiv Sainiks were not responsible for the attack. “I had not even signed that FIR on the basis of which the police registered the case. That FIR has incorrect facts. I want necessary facts to be added to the FIR. If my demands are not fulfilled, I will go to meet the governor,” Somaiya alleged. When asked about arrests of Sainiks in the case on Monday, including that of the former mayor, Somaiya said, “It was just an eyewash as they were arrested and immediately released on bail.”
