Raj Thackeray arrested, to be produced in Bandra court

MNS chief Raj Thackeray was today arrested for his alleged involvement in the attack on north Indian candidates appearing for a railway recruitment examination.

He will be produced before a suburban magistrate's court in Bandra in the afternoon and his police custody will be sought, a senior police officer said.

Raj was arrested in the wee hours of today from Ratnagiri district by a team of officers from Mumbai police while he was on a tour in Konkan region.

A case was registered against Raj and MNS activists for their alleged involvement in the attack on north Indian candidates appearing for a recruitment exam conducted by the Railways in suburb Kherwadi, city Police Commissioner Hasan Gaffoor said.

"We did not know whether he would come back to the city or not. Therefore the arrest in Ratnagiri," he said.

MNS activists involved in the attempted assault on candidates have also been arrested and police custody would be sought for all of them, the Commissioner said.

Thackeray has been charged under sections 153, 353, 336, 425 and 427 of IPC, police sources said.

"Some of the charges are bailable and others are non-bailable and it is up to the court to give the police custody that we will be seeking," Gaffoor said.

Preventive arrests of MNS activists have also been made in large number in order to maintain peace across the city, he said.

While security has been tightened in Mumbai, incidents of violence were reported from various parts of the city.