Sena workers force bandh in Ulhasnagar after leader gets arrested for manhandling

Following the arrest of Shiv Sena leader Rajendra Chaudhari, the party’s workers forced a city wide bandh in Ulhasnagar on Tuesday. Chaudhari was arrested for manhandling the Ulhasnagar Municipal corporation staff and damaging office furniture.

Hundreds of Sena workers took to the streets, forcing shops and other business establishments to shut down. Even rickshaws were barred from ferrying passengers in certain parts of the city, where the Sena either had a pull with the union or was present in big numbers.

It all started on Monday when Chaudhari staged a morcha against the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) to protest against the civic body’s failure to fix potholes, among other issues. Incidentally, the UMC is run by Sena itself.

When Chaudhari and other Sena workers reached the UMC headquarters to meet UMC commissioner Manohar Hire, the security staff did not allow the entire entourage to pass. This angered Chaudhari and his ‘aides’, who resorted to manhandling the security staff and breaking office furniture.

Following the incident, UMC filed a complaint with Central police on Monday night.

On Tuesday morning, Central police sprung into action and arrested Chaudhari along with four of his aides. Subsequently, the party workers called for a city wide bandh until the leader and party workers were arrested. In the wake of the bandh, Chaudhari was released on bail in the afternoon and Sena workers call off the bandh.

Meanwhile, UMC staff is planning to stage a protest against the Sena workers.