PM, Shah must meet K'taka, Maha CMs to prevent Belagavi-like assaults: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah should have a meeting with Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis and Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah to prevent a repeat of incidents like that in Belgavi.

Shiv Sena (UBT) workers on Saturday staged a protest and blackened the buses with Karnataka number plates in the Swargate area of Pune city after a Marathi-speaking bus driver was assaulted in Belagavi, for allegedly not speaking in Kannada.

Raut said, "We do not want such incidents to take place. PM and Home Minister should call for a meeting with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Belagavi border dispute is in the Supreme Court. Even then how the Karnataka government is doing these activities is not right. The matter is sub-judice. Activities like assaulting our people, closing of Marathi schools and literature organisations why is it going on?"

"In Maharashtra also there are a lot of people from Karnataka who are running several organisations and hotels. We have never done anything to them nor we will do. We are all united. This is an issue of language. Marathi people living in Belagavi want to run Marathi school there, then it is nothing wrong. In Maharashtra, there are Kannada schools," he said.

Earlier police said that action would be taken against those responsible for blackening the buses.

"As soon as we got to know that Shiv Sena (UBT) workers were going to come here and do something, we immediately dispatched force. They were successful in spraying black colour on one bus. Not much damage has been done," DCP Smartana Patil told ANI.

"The accused have been detained by the police, and legal action will follow... Four to five people have been detained, but others will be identified soon on the basis of video recordings," she added.

On Friday night, a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver was assaulted while on duty in Chitradurga, Karnataka, according to Abhijit Bhosale, CPRO of MSRTC.

After the incident, MSRTC cancelled the service of its buses going from Kolhapur to Karnataka.

"As per the directions of Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, ST buses going from Kolhapur to Karnataka state have been cancelled for an indefinite period for the safety of passengers and employees travelling in Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses," Bhosale said.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Sarnaik spoke to the injured driver, Shri Bhaskar Jadhav, over the phone and reassured him, stating, "You are not alone in this matter; our government stands firmly behind you." He also emphasized that unless the Karnataka government takes a clear stance on this issue and engages in discussions with the Maharashtra government, ST bus services in the affected area will remain suspended.

The incident occurred on the night of February 21, when a bus (MH14 K Q 7714) travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai was stopped two kilometres behind Chitradurga. Activists from a Karnataka-based organisation allegedly attacked the bus and assaulted the driver, Bhaskar Jadhav, who was on duty, said MSRTC.