File photo: MNS workers protesting against toll tax at a booth in Dahisar, a Mumbai suburb
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was booked by the police on Tuesday after his party workers continued to vandalise toll booths in Mumbai and other places. They hurled stones at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link toll booth on Tuesday, breaking a glass window.
Mr Thackeray was booked, the 96th case against him, for his provocative speech on Sunday.
"I am ordering my workers to ensure that no toll tax is charged at any booth in Maharashtra. If anyone asks for toll tax, then
phod dijiye, pitiye (attack, thrash them), whatever be the consequences," he had said.
15 MNS workers have been arrested for Tuesday's attack. Over hundred have been arrested across the state since Sunday. Additional security has been provided at toll booths, the police said.
MNS workers have since continuously attacked toll booths in several parts of the state like Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Kalyan, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Nashik.
Raj Thackeray's wife Sharmila today met an MNS corporator and seven workers arrested yesterday, at a Pune police station.
Akhilesh Chaubey, the head of the MNS' legal cell has argued, "We are not anarchists. We were forced to take the law into our hands for public good. Our agitation will continue till the state becomes toll-free."
Mr Thackeray has accused contractors of overcharging citizens, without repairing potholed roads or providing amenities, and continuing to do so after recovering the construction cost.
The contractors deny this. "Toll tariff, location and time period have been decided by the Supreme Court," said Jayant Mhaiskar, managing director, MEP Infrastructure Developers.
Though the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra has warned of strict action against those behind the violence, in Sangli, workers belonging to both ruling parties have joined the protests against toll tax.
Mumbai's five entry points generate an estimated Rs.2 billion a year from toll collection and are a major source of revenue for the state government.