In retaliation against the attack on vehicles from Maharashtra in Karnataka’s Belagavi, workers from the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Tuesday defaced a few Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses that were parked at a parking lot near Pune’s Swargate bus stand.
The incident took place after six Maharashtra vehicles were allegedly targeted by Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists at Hirebagewadi near Belagavi early on Tuesday.
“When Maharashtrians’ vehicles are being targeted in Karnataka, the state government (of Maharashtra) is cowering down. The ministers have cancelled their scheduled trips to Belagavi. If they fail to protect Maharashtra and Maharashtrians, then Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena will take the matter into its own hands,” a party worker said.
Sena workers threw black ink on the buses, blackened the number plates and wrote ‘Jai Maharashtra’ in saffron colour on the windshields of the vehicles.
The Pune City Police said they have detained around seven Sena workers.
“Around 2.30 pm, some people blackened the license plate numbers of at least four Karnataka buses…They also used saffron spray paint to write Jai Maharashtra on them. We have detained seven persons in this regard,” Senior Inspector Ashok Indalkar of Swargate police station said.
