Bal Thackeray's arrest: Bhujbal says file came from police; he wanted Sena chief to get bail

Mumbai, Mar 3 (PTI) Responding to former IPS officer K P Raghuvanshi's claim that he faced pressure from then Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal to arrest Bal Thackeray, Bhujbal on Tuesday said the "file" related to the case came from the police themselves.

Thackeray, the late Shiv Sena founder, was arrested briefly in 2000 for his alleged role in instigating the 1993 comunal riots in Mumbai.

A biography of Raghuvanshi, released in his presence last week, quoted him as saying that he was under pressure from Bhujbal to arrest the Sena chief.

"I want to ask Raghuvanshi, who sent me the file? After we got the file from the police commissioner, we could not send it back, because we had promised to implement the Srikrishna commission report (on the Mumbai riots)," said Bhujbal, now a senior NCP minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government.

He also said that he had told senior police officer M N Singh that Thackeray should get bail, and if he did not, Thackeray's residence 'Matoshri' should be converted into a jail, Bhujbal further said.

Thackeray was arrested on July 25, 2000, by the Mumbai police for his alleged provocative writings in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' during the riots.

He was produced before the court, but the case was dismissed and he was discharged. PTI MR KRK