Sena demands Nitesh's arrest

MUMBAI: The attack on Chintu Shaikh, a member of Nitesh Rane's Swabhiman Sangathana has assumed political overtones with the Shiv Sena demanding his arrest and resignation of his father, state revenue minister Narayan Rane.
Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe told newspersons on Friday it was shocking that the police has not arrested Nitesh despite being booked for attempt to murder.She said the police would not be able to carry out an impartial probe as long as Narayan Rane continued to be in the cabinet. "If he does not quit on his own, then the Congress high command should sack him," she said, adding it was strange that the police had not even called Nitesh for questioning. "We demand the immediate withdrawal of all police security to Nitesh."
The Sena will submit a memorandum to home minister R R Patil and police commissioner Sanjiv Dayal demanding the immediate arrest of Nitesh, who was "involved in earlier incidents of violence". She hinted at a possible agitation by her party if Nitesh was not arrested.
Narayan Rane was in the Sena till 2005 when he was sacked by party chief Bal Thackeray when he openly revolted against the leadership of the saffron organization's CEO Uddhav Thackeray. Narayan Rane denied that the incident had happened at all. He accused Uddhav of staging a conspiracy to implicate his son and defame him. Thursday's shooting incident had its ramifications for the ruling Congress-NCP coalition. Patil, who belongs to the NCP, was under pressure from the police to let them arrest Nitesh.
A senior police official: "If it was anyone else we would have arrested the accused. Iin this case there is enormous political pressure from the Congress. If Nitesh is not arrested it will demoralise the police force." But, Patil had not got the clearance from his party leadership.
Some politicians have hinted that even the chief minister Ashok Chavan appears to be against the arrest of Nitesh.