Ex-Mumbai Mayor Datta Dalvi Arrested For "Objectionable" Remarks Against Eknath Shinde

The Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former city Mayor Datta Dalvi for allegedly objectionable remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

A court later remanded him in 14-day judicial custody. Mr Dalvi sought bail from the court, claiming that he was "innocent and falsely implicated" in the case. The application will be heard tomorrow.

Datta Dalvi was arrested from suburban Bhandup in the morning, the police said.

"During a probe, the police found that a meeting was organised on Sunday by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in Bhandup, where Datta Dalvi allegedly made some objectionable remarks against Eknath Shinde," a Bhandup police station official said.

The rival factions of the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackery and Eknath Shinde have been at daggers drawn since the party split in June 2022.

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Datta Dalvi under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 153 (b) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 294 (obscene acts and songs) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), he said.

Following his arrest, the police produced him before a magistrate court in suburban Mulund and sought his remand for two days.

The investigators said his custody was required for maintaining law and order in the area.

However, advocate Sundeep Singh, appearing for Datta Dalvi, submitted that no justifiable ground for custody has been made out in the remand plea and his personal liberty cannot be curtailed.

He also argued that no offence was made against the accused under the sections he has been charged by the police.

The accused has been arrested as a result of "political vendetta", he said.

The court, after hearing both sides, refused to grant custody of the accused to the police and remanded him in judicial custody.

Datta Dalvi's lawyer then moved the bail application.

Meanwhile, unidentified persons attacked Mr Dalvi's car parked outside his house in Kannamwar Nagar in suburban Vikhroli on Wednesday afternoon, a police official said.

The incident took place sometime between 4 and 5 pm, he said.

An FIR was registered against four unidentified persons under IPC sections 427 (mischief causing damage) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault, or wrongful restraint), and a probe is underway, the official added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)