Hanuman Chalisa Row: Mumbai Top Cop Trashes Rana Couple’s Torture Charge With Video | WATCH

Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey on Tuesday shared a video of Amravati MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, that could shed some light on how they are being treated behind bars. A day after the couple alleged custodial ill-treatment, the top cop shared a video of the two leaders having tea at Khar police station. Tweeting the video, in the caption he said, “Do we say anything more?”

The Ranas have been arrested under charges of assault or use of criminal force against a public servant in the execution of his duty. They have also been slapped with a sedition charge.

On Sunday, Navneet Rana wrote a letter to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, saying her arrest was illegal and alleging “inhuman treatment” in police custody. In the letter, she has demanded strict action against Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey and alleged that the action against her and Ravi Rana was taken on the directions of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Navneet and Ravi Rana were arrested on Saturday after they gave a call for the chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray’s private residence ‘Matoshree’ in Mumbai, which had triggered angry protests by Shiv Sainiks. The couple, now in jail, later withdrew their call, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city for an event.

The parliamentarian, in the letter, spoke about being put up in a lock-up without due regards to the office held by her and not getting drinking water while in police custody. Navneet Rana alleged she was abused on the basis of her caste. She has sought action against top Mumbai police officers over her arrest. “I emphatically state that I have reason to believe that the police action against me and my husband is only on the directions of the Chief Minister Shri Uddhav Thackeray. Under the circumstances, I am forwarding this representation to you as the guardian and custodian of the dignity of the Lok Sabha and its members to kindly look into the matter,” she has written.

“I, hereby, demand the strictest action to be taken against the Commissioner, Mumbai Police, concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and the police staff,” she said.

The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Monday sought details from the Maharashtra government within 24 hours following the allegations made by Navneet Rana against the police after her arrest, sources said in New Delhi.

An aide of the parliamentarian said the secretariat has forwarded the letter to the union home ministry.

Hitting out at the Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA government in the state, the MP said the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit, which claims to be a party embracing the avowed principles of Hindutva, has clearly diluted its stand so as to appease the ideology of the other ruling coalition partners.

She said the Shiv Sena contested the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections against the Congress and the NCP, but formed a post-poll alliance with these very parties, a move driven by its desire to get the post of chief minister. “I submit that I have been vociferous in my criticism of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in as much as the State of Maharashtra, under this government is riddled with corruption, police brutalities etc. I state and submit that it is my constitutional right as a citizen and as a Member of Parliament to engage in constructive and honest criticism of the Government and its workings,” said Navneet Rana.

(With PTI inputs)

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