Mumbai: The special MP and MLA court has acquitted 28 members of the (undivided) Shiv Sena for allegedly causing disturbance and rioting in July 2005 outside the office of the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana. As per the prosecution case, after senior leader Narayan Rane’s departure from the Sena, a group headed by him and one supporting Uddhav Thackeray started holding rallies in the city.
On July 24, 2005, one such rally was organised by the Rane faction at Dadar at 10am amidst police bandobast. However, as soon as the rally started, Thackeray supporters barged in and started to disrupt it. In the scuffle between the supporters, some Shiv Sainiks were injured. They gathered at the police station in Dadar around 1.15pm to protest. It was claimed that the Sainiks stopped vehicles and blocked roads.
The police had to resort to lathicharge but that escalated tensions and those gathered attacked the police station premises, threw stones at the cabin of the senior inspector causing the glass to break. They also tore curtains and broke furniture and tried to attack the cops. Special Judge RN Rokade on Wednesday acquitted all the accused for want of evidence observing that different prosecution witnesses narrated different stories. Besides, no medical certificate of the injured was brought on record nor any articles were seized by police from the spot to show destruction. The court said the prosecution failed to prove the charges against all these accused.
