A day after Maha Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray’s speech against migrant workers in Mumbai, an auto-rickshaw was set on fire in the Andheri suburb late Thursday night.
The police said the miscreants were "unidentified people" and at this point and there were no clarity on who was behind it. "The cause of fire is a matter of investigation," said senior inspector Ramesh Sitaram Khadtare.
"If any such auto with a new permit is seen plying on the road, those sitting inside will be asked to come out and the auto will be set on fire... Since Shiv Sena holds the state Transport portfolio, I want to ask how much is it getting in the deal," he had said on Thursday, addressing a gathering of party supporters on the occasion of MNS's 10th foundation day.
Raj had claimed that around 70 per cent of those given new permits are non-Marathi and demanded that only sons of the soil should be given licences.
"The government has done away with norms like asking for a domicile certificate and a letter from the CID before handing out auto permits to those seeking it, so that they can anyhow grant 70,000 permits in the coming days," Thackeray had said.
With inputs from PTI
