PUNE, Nov 17: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackearay today squarely blamed the former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar for the law and order problems of the state and alleged that the underworld elements were `pampered' when he (Pawar) was in power.Talking to newsmen here, Thackeray alleged that when Pawar was the Defence Minister he intervened after the notorious goon Pappu Kalani was arrested to put pressure on the then Chief Minister Sudhakar Naik asking him to see to it that Kalani was not inconvenienced in the lock-up or jail.He said Pawar also owed an explanation as to what was his connection with Anees Ahmed, the brother of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, as Anees had been quoted in a newspaper as saying that he has a `good rapport with Pawar.'Thackeray demanded that Pawar should also explain how two criminals who were involved in the J J hospital shoot-out in Mumbai managed to board his plane when he was the Defence Minister.The increase in extortion cases was due to the fact that most ofthe underworld dons had left India and were operating from other countries so the young hoodlums have increased their activity in the name of their `bosses,' the Sena chief said.To a query Thackeray said, ``I fully endorse encounter killings to weed out the underworld gangsters who are making the lives of people difficult.''Thackeray said it was unfortunate that the judiciary was was coming in the way of the functioning of law enforcing agencies as the so called human rights activists were filing petitions against policemen.``As a result the policemen are finding themselves on the horns of dilemma. If they don't react to the criminals they are damned and even if they deal with them sternly and wipe them out, they are damned which is bad,'' he said.Asked about relations between the alliance partners Shiv Sena and BJP, Thackeray said ``minor differences have been ironed out. There are no issues which could precipitate any crises.''Asked about the performance of the chief minister Manohar Joshi,Thackeray said, his performance was `not bad.' ``He does not take any policy decision without consulting me,'' the Sena chief said. To a query, Thackeray said he would not allow foreign media to operate in India as it could make the survival of Indian media difficult.
