Chandrakant Patil, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Maharashtra unit on Monday, 20 September, slammed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government over the alleged detention of BJP leader Kirit Somaiya in Mumbai on Sunday.
Patil claimed, "Around 100 policemen are deployed outside residence of former MP Kirit Somaiya.”
He asked if Kirit Somaiya was a terrorist, and added that “terrorists who intend to organise blasts in Mumbai are arrested and some of them are roaming free as well. But when Kirit Somaiya is exposing scams related to corrupted ministers, he is being stopped", news agency ANI reported.
He added, "He is being informed that he will be detained at Kolhapur guest house. Is democracy over? On what basis is he going to be detained by them? The entire BJP is behind Kirit Somaiya. We will not step back. we will not be scared."
Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also tweeted about the same, asking, "Where is democracy?"
Kirit Somaiya Detained At Karad Railway Station
On Monday, Somaiya, who was travelling to Kolhapur by train, was detained at Karad Railway Station in the Satara district of Maharashtra, ANI reported.
Meanwhile, prohibitory orders against Somaiya were issued by Kolhapur District Collector and Section 144 was imposed, prohibiting gatherings on 20 and 21 September.
The BJP leader on Sunday had alleged that he was detained at his residence in Mumbai and had lashed out at the MVA government, asking who gave the orders to restrict him.
On his way to Kolhapur, Somaiya asked, "The Thackeray government said you cannot go out of Mumbai. Who gave this order?"
Somaiya was on his way to visit properties owned by Maharashtra minister Hasan Mushrif in which he claimed corruption has taken place, ANI reported.
Earlier, he had also levelled allegations of money laundering against Maharashtra Cabinet ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Anil Parab.
(With inputs from ANI)
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