Nitesh Rane says he will visit disturbed Panvel; cops sound warning

The political visits have disturbed communal peace in areas where law enforcement agencies are working to restore harmony The Panvel police have taken precautionary measures and crucial inputs from their counterparts in Mira Road in case BJP leader Nitesh Rane who has been allegedly inciting unrest among youngsters visits the Muslimdominated area of Kacchi Mohalla where three people were injured in riots last weekRecently Rane had visited disturbed Mira Road with a large convoy Goons hidden in the convoy emerged to terrorise residents midday has learned that the cops in Panvel where also communal tension broke out last week ahead of the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya are taking precautionary measures to handle Ranersquos convoyMuslim scholars from Mira Road and Mumbai met Ajit Pawar on SundayldquoThere are discussions that Rane might visit Panvel So we have contacted MBVV police and learned how to prevent the large convoy from disappearing in lanes and rampaging in Panvel where the situation is under controlrdquo said an officer in Panvel police ldquoWe will take all measures to uphold peace and will not allow any politicians to disturb communal harmony for political benefitrdquoAttackers didnrsquot know areaRanersquos visit to the communally disturbed area of Mira Road had flared up the issue as motorcycleborne youngsters who were part of the convoy disappeared only to stoke embers ldquoBut since the youngsters were outsiders they did not know the area properly and they stopped in Shanti Nagar mistaking it for Naya Nagar and pelted stones at shopsrdquo said the officerThough the communal tension of Mira Road has been temporarily put under control by the heavy police presence local residents and the police fear that publicityhungry politicians will never miss an opportunity for political gainrsquo said a shopkeeper in Naya Nagar The BJP leader Geeta Jain said ldquoRanersquos visit did not flare up any communal tension No incident took place after Rane visited Mira Road We will not keep quiet if anyone tries to disturb our religious rallyrdquo ldquoCops in Mira Road barricaded the area and restricted our visit The cops cant restrict our movementrdquo she saidMeanwhile former Corporator Zubair Inamdar said ldquoPeople are happily living here We are thankful to the police for bringing down communal tension Even local journalists did a commendable job by calling leaders across parties police and civic officials and requested them to restore peace Now everything seems to be alrightrdquo ldquoOur police officials were focusing on the security of Rane We did not realise he would come with some miscreantsrdquo said a senior crime branch officer requesting anonymityldquoThese youngsters were not residents of Mira Road but were hired goons from Bhayandar Borivli Ghodbundar and Santosh Bhavan Nalasopara EastThey damaged multiple shops broke their glass doors pelted stones abused and terrorized local residents and shopkeepersrdquo said the officer ldquoThese goons are the same whom politicians heavily rely on to muster large crowds at rally groundsrdquo the officer addedHow activists fanned flamesThe MBVV police officials said that the minor road rage issue coupled with misinformation and misinterpretation was deliberately flared up by rightwing activists who were on the road with religious flags on the eve of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya ldquoThough there was a communal riot in Naya Nagar on January 21 night things were immediately put under control We had sensitised the area by marching on the roads But the issue was unnecessarily flared up by rightwing extremists and politicians to appease their national and regional leadersrdquo said a senior police officer requesting anonymityThe officer further added that Nitesh Ranersquos post on X on January 22 morning incited people to indulge in communal violence The rightwing activists and powerhungry politicians had tried to cash in on the lowscale communal violence of Mira Road where the ember of hate among local residents was injected by political fraternitiesAjit Pawar steps inThe activist and scholars from the Muslim community MA Khalid and Salim Sarang met the Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday with all affected people from Mira Road They discussed the whole issue of the alleged false cases and harassment and the demolition carried out which was a onesided action by the administrationShops were attacked on Tuesday evening in Shanti Nagar PicsHanif PatelPawar immediately took the matter up with the concerned department and asked them to keep law and order under control at any cost Pawar also asked the municipal corporation in Mira Road not to demolish any illegal structures and to maintain peace The people who met him thanked Ajit Pawar for his supportRanersquos speech in PandharpurOn Saturday Rane delivered a provocative speech in Pandharpur where he made a controversial statement that the lsquopolice will not be able to do anything to me as our boss is sitting in the Sagar bungalowrsquo Sagar Bungalow is where Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resides Rane was speaking at a Hindu protest march organised in Malshiras In his speech Rane said ldquoWe do not create obstacles in the festivals of other religions Others have started interfering with our festivalrdquoRane warned that they should stay within the limits now ldquoSo now only one call should come from Malshiras that lsquoNitesh Saheb we have done the program now save usrsquo After that it will be our responsibility to get you home safely I am talking in front of the police They will not do anything to merdquoRanersquos versionBJP leader Nitesh Rane told midday ldquoSome of the cops are trying to malign the image of their Home Department and they are not loyal to their job It is incorrect to say that the people from my convoy fanned in Mira Road to create unrest by vandalising shops Why would people from my convoy create unrest in Mira Road Who gave you this piece of wrong information Somebody is misleading you And please stop calling it communal tension when Hindus are being targeted I am bound to go to a place where Hindus are being targetedrdquoldquoIf the cops think that people from my convoy created unrest in Mira Road they should talk to me first instead of speaking to the mediardquo he added ldquoThe cops were piloting the convoy from front and behind The cops are trying to malign the image of the Home Department and Devendra FadnavisrdquoldquoThere have been nearly 23 cases of love jihad in Naya Nagar I have also learnt that there have been certain cases which have not been brought on record for the last two years despite receiving regular complaints regarding encroachment on Hindu lands drugs cases etc I have given proof to the MBVV police commissioner asking why the cases were not registered for the last two years I have also given him MBVV police chief the names of police officers behind not taking action Later I briefed Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis about the samerdquo Rane addedWhen asked how many people were there in his convoy Rane said ldquoI did not sit and count but the people were joining merdquo ldquoYou should also ask the Jihadis to know why are they doing land jihad Illegal mosques and toilets are being made adjacent to temples All these must be stopped The attacks on Hindus must come to an end this is a Hindu Rashtra I have been visiting the affected areas in Maharashtra to embolden our Hindu communityrdquo he underlinedldquoWhat happened in Mira Road Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims assaulted Hindus who had been celebrating the Pran Pratistha of the idol of Ram in Ayodhya on January 22 We have been targeted first They should stop targeting the Hindusrdquo he underlined ldquoI do not understand why all these tensions do not rise when there are other religious morchas like Muharram Why are only Hindus being targeted The Hindu community is completely demotivated nowrdquo he addedldquoNot all but there are certain police officials who are flaring up the situation I have already informed the Home Minister that there are certain police officers who are helping by not noticing these things violence at the right timerdquo Rane told midday ldquoThis is not a communal riot Hindus are being attacked And I will definitely visit the area where Hindus are being targetedrdquo he addedJan 21Day riots took place in Mira RoadJan 22Day Pran Pratishtha ceremony was held