The Lok Sabha secretariat has through the Ministry of Home Affairs asked for a “factual note” from Maharashtra government on arrest of Amravati MP Navneet Rana and also sought explanation on her letter to Speaker Om Birla, where she alleged of “inhuman treatment” meted out to her in Khar Police Station in Mumbai on Monday.
Ms. Rana and her MLA husband were arrested on Saturday by the Mumbai Police after they gave a call for the chanting 'Hanuman Chalisa' on a loudspeaker outside Uddhav Thackeray’s private residence which triggered angry protests by Shiv Sainiks. The couple was arrested under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with assault or use of criminal force against a public servant in the execution of his duty and sedition. They have been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
Ms. Rana in a letter to Mr. Birla alleged that she was denied water for the entire night on her arrest on Saturday because she is a Dalit. She was detained for the night at the Khar Police Station. The next day, she was sent to the Byculla women's jail in Mumbai while her husband Ravi Rana was taken to Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai.
