LS Secretariat seeks 'factual note' on MP Navneet Rana's arrest

Lok Sabha Secretariat on Monday sought a factual report from the Government of Maharashtra within 24 hours in connection with the arrest of the Amravati MP.

Lok Sabha Secretariat on Monday sought a factual report from the Government of Maharashtra within 24 hours in connection with the arrest of Amravati MP Navneet Rana.

"A copy of the email/complaint dated April 25, 2022, received from Navneet Ravi Rana, MP alleging patently illegal arrest and the consequent inhuman treatment meted out to her in Khar Police Station, Mumbai is sent herewith for being placed before the Minister of Home Affairs," reads the letter of Lok Sabha secretariat to Ministry of Home Affairs.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs is requested that a 'Factual Note' in the matter may kindly be obtained from the Government of Maharashtra and furnished to this Secretariat within 24 hours for being placed before the Speaker, Lok Sabha," the letter added.

Amravati MP Navneet Rana on Monday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla issuing a clarification that she wanted to ignite the flame of 'Hindutva' in Shiv Sena, not to create any religious tensions by chanting the "Hanuman Chalisa" outside the residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The MP-MLA couple was arrested in Mumbai on Sunday. They were then sent to judicial custody for 14-days by a Metropolitan Magistrate court in Bandra. Currently, MLA Ravi Rana is lodged in Taloja Jail and MP Naveneet Rana is lodged in Byculla Jail.

On Saturday, a row started when MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana stated that the couple plans to chant Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree' (Maharashtra CM's Mumbai residence), after which a huge crowd gathered outside the residence of the political couple waving flags with an aim to prevent them from reaching the Chief Minister's residence.

However, the Ranas withdrew their plan to chant Hanuman Chalisa amid the protests from Shiv Sainiks that culminated in their arrest on the charge of creating enmity between different groups.

Earlier on Monday, the Ranas approached the Bombay High Court seeking cancellation of the FIR in connection with the Matoshree-Hanuman Chalisa row. However, the High Court dismissed the petition moved by Rana couple for quashing the FIR registered against them for allegedly assaulting the police officer who came to arrest the couple.