After Raj Thackeray's rally against railways, MNS booked for not taking police permission

Mumbai: An offence was registered against organisers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) rally in the city on Thursday for not taking a prior permission of the police. The MNS held the rally from Metro Cinema to the Churchgate railway station in south Mumbai to protest the deaths of 23 people in a stampede on a foot-over bridge linking Parel and Elphinstone Road railway stations on 29 September. Party president Raj Thackeray addressed the gathering of thousands outside the railway station. [caption id=“attachment_4114173” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Raj Thackeray. AFP[/caption] “As no official permission was taken for organising the rally, a case was registered at the Azad Maidan Police Station under section 37(1) (E) and section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act,” a senior official said on Thursday. When asked if police have named Thackeray, the official replied in negative. Police have not given the exact number of organisers booked by them. MNS activists who participated in the rally had raised slogans against the railway administration and obstructed vehicular movement too, he said. “This was an act of disobedience of commissioner of police’s orders against unauthorised gathering,” the official added.