Tension gripped the Chhatrapati Shivaji Park area in Dadar on Wednesday morning after unidentified persons hurled red paint on the statue of late Meenatai Thackeray, wife of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray and mother of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. A large number of Shiv Sainiks and also the activists of Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena gathered at the venue and strongly condemned the incident demanding action against those responsible for it.
NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule condemned the defacement of the statue. Speaking on the same, Sule said "This is very sad and completely wrong. Such incidents should not happen. We have all been alerted, and I request that CCTV cameras be installed wherever our statues are placed."During the investigation, the police arrested a man on Wednesday evening who was identified through CCTV cameras.The accused has been identified as Upendra Pawaskar. He is currently being interrogated.The incident came to light when an onlooker spotted red oil paint on the bust of the statue and on the pedestal around 6:30 am on Wednesday.
Following this, the workers of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) rushed to the spot and cleaned the premises. Eight teams were formed to identify the perpetrators, the police said, adding that CCTV footage installed in the Shivaji Park area are been scanned.An FIR was registered against unidentified persons under section 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class of persons) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at Shivaji Park police station.Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also condemned the incident. “Police will trace anti-social elements involved (in the desecration) and take action. There is no need to give political colour to the incident," Fadnavis added. Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde also stated the culprits won’t be spared and strict action will be initiated. “I have spoken to the police commissioner. Even the CM is looking into it," Shinde said.This incident occurred after Sena (UBT) staged a ‘sindoor’ protest to oppose the India-Pakistan cricket match in the Asia Cup on September 14.