Uddhav aide could be arrested for Pune violence

Pune: Days after the Shiv Sena called a bandh in Pune and damaged ten buses, two senior party leaders are likely to be arrested for inciting the violence.

The police in Pune says it tapped the phones of Neelam Gorhe, a Sena leader, and Milind Narvekar, who is the Personal Assistant of Uddhav Thackeray.

Recorded conversations repeatedly reveal Narvekar instructing Gorhe on how to turn the bandh or strike violent. Police sources say they will be charged with criminal conspiracy and attempting to cause riots.

The Sena's bandh was a protest against the city municipal corporation's decision to remove a statue of Dadoji Konddeo, regarded by some as the guru of Chattrapati Shivaji, from Lal Mahal in the heart of the city. However, the corporation, which is governed by the Congress-NCP coalition, said that some historians had misrepresented Dadoji's role, and that his statue at Lal Mahal would be replaced by one of Shivaji's father.