Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai, Nov 15: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was on Saturday granted transit bail by the Mazgaon court in Mumbai after he surrendered before the magistrate in connection with a non-bailable warrant issued against his name.
He was given bail on a surety of Rs 50,000. The warrant was issued by a Jamshedpur court for Raj’s inflammatory remarks on ‘Chath puja’ and for fanning religious sentiments.
There was, however, confusion as to whether Raj surrendered before the court or he was arrested in execution of the warrant as claimed by the Mumbai Police.
Raj’s lawyers applied for the transit bail for their client after he ‘surrendered’.
It may be noted that the court in Jamshedpur had on October 20 forwarded a non-bailable warrant (NBW) in the name of Raj Thackeray to Mumbai police.
The NBW was issued against Raj for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Biharis.
The NBW was issued by the court of first class Judicial Magistrate A K Tiwary on September 30, directing the MNS leader to be present before him on November 17.
The court directive came on a petition filed against Raj by Hammed Raza Khan, a lawyer, for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of a section of society.
In recent times Mumbai has witnessed a spurt in violence against the North Indians, allegedly perpetuated by MNS activists.
In February this year, MNS activists beat up North Indian students and last month they targeted non-Marathi students appearing for Railway exams.
