2 MNS corporators held for humiliating BMC engineer; party

Two MNS corporators from the city were arrested today, days after they allegedly forced a civic chief engineer to hold a placard on a potholed road in Dadar, which read 'I am responsible for potholes', police said.
Sandeep Deshpande and Santosh Dhuri surrendered before Shivaji Park police station officials in Dadar this evening, following which they were formally arrested.
However, workers of the Raj Thackeray-led MNS filed complaints in all the 93 police stations in the city through the day seeking stern action against the road engineers and contractors for "jeopardising people's lives" through "pothole-ridden" roads.
Talking about the corporators' arrest, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya told PTI here tonight, "The corporators were arrested under IPC Section 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (34) (criminal intimidation)."

The incident had occurred in the afternoon on October 5 when a group of workers, led by MNS leader in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Sandeep Deshpande and corporator Santosh Dhuri met BMC Chief Engineer (Roads department) Sanjay Darade at his office in Worli, an official of Shivaji Park police station said.
They asked Darade to accompany them to a spot between Sena Bhavan and Plaza Theatre in Dadar area and after reaching the spot, he was allegedly forcibly made to hold a placard which read, "I, Chief Engineer of Roads Department, I am responsible for these potholes. Citizens should take note of this."

MNS secretary Sachin More said the party workers filed complaints against the road engineers and contractors in all the 93 police stations across the city and demanded that they be booked under IPC Sections 420 (cheating) and 467 (forgery of valuable security).

"The party feels that the unholy nexus between the engineers and contractors has jeopardised the lives of over one crore people of the city due to the pothole-ridden roads across the city," More said.
"Our party has a zero tolerance policy towards potholes. These craters are a reflection of corrupt practices of road engineers and contractors, and therefore, we have demanded to book and punish them," he added.

The MNS leader said the party is firmly behind the arrested corporators.
"These engineers have the responsibility to ensure the quality of the repaired roads. But it is clear that they have failed to discharge their duties," he said.
Following Wednesday's incident, Darade had approached the Shivaji Park police on Thursday night and filed an FIR against the corporator duo and others involved.
Over 4,000 civic engineers had held protest marches outside BMC's engineering hub in Worli on Thursday and threatened to resign if action was not taken against the corporators before October 10.