Pawar assailant booked as NCP goes on rampage
25 Nov 2011
A Delhi court today remanded Harvinder Singh, the man who slapped union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday, to 14 days in judicial custody.
The Delhi police has booked him under Section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code (causing hurt), Section 353 (attack on a public servant), and Section 506 (criminal intimidation), among others.
In Maharashtra, the reaction to this relatively minor incident (which Pawar himself dismissed in a few words) was way over the top, felt most neutral observers. Pawar's National Congress Party (NCP) has called for a bandh in Pune, Sangli and Beed today.
In Mumbai, NCP workers brought the city to almost to a standstill on Thursday. Party workers blocked roads, pelted stones at buses and forcefully shut shops in Sion, Dadar, Worli, and Kandivali, as well as in satellite towns.
Suburban rail services were also disrupted for a few minutes after party workers squatted on the tracks at Masjid Bunder and Kurla stations.
Around 150-200 NCP supporters from Mulund division under the leadership of Hanumant Mali staged a rasta roko at Panch Rasta in Mulund (West).