Rana not ill-treated in lock-up, will provide details: Walse Patil

Rana, who along with her husband, Independent MLA Ravi Rana, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on Saturday, had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that she was denied water and subjected to casteist slurs. Following this, Birla sought details of the incident from the Maharashtra government.

Speaking to the media, Walse Patil said, “It does not appear that any wrong treatment was meted out to Navneet Rana in the lock-up. However, since the Lok Sabha Speaker has sought information about the incident, we will provide the details.”

“The action taken by the Mumbai Police has been as per law. There has been no wrongdoing and we will provide all the necessary details to the central government.”

Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Tuesday visited the Khar police station and said that he will meet Maharashtra Governor on Wednesday in connection with the police inaction in the case related to the attack on him on Saturday night. Somaiya was attacked by alleged Shiv Sena workers outside the police station when he had gone to meet the Ranas after their arrest.

Asked if the CISF personnel guarding Somaiya – who enjoys Z plus security – have been given “shoot at sight” orders if he was attacked again, Walse Patil said, “I don’t think CISF has given such an order. No one is allowed to issue such an order. Their job is to protect the person. Neither CISF nor Maharashtra Police can take such a decision. I will still verify this information.”

After the Ranas were arrested on Saturday for attempting to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree – Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence in Mumbai – they were first kept at Khar police station, from where they were taken to Santacruz police station. On Sunday, Navneet was moved to the Byculla women prison, where she is currently lodged.

In her letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Navneet alleged that she was put up in a lock-up without due regards to the office held by her, was not given drinking water while in police custody and abused on the basis of her caste when she demanded water.

A senior Mumbai Police officer denied the allegations and mentioned that they have CCTV camera footage and statements of other inmates at the police station to prove that the allegations are baseless. “All the evidence will be sent to the Lok Sabha Speaker,” the officer said.

Later in the day, to counter Rana’s complaint that they were not offered water, Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey tweeted a video from Khar police station with the caption “do we say anything more”. The video is a grab taken from CCTV cameras at Khar police station from Saturday night in which Navneet Rana and Ravi Rana are seen having tea.

Countering Pandey’s video, Rizwan Merchant, the lawyer of the Ranas, also released a video in which he said that the video released by Pandey was from Khar police station where the couple were initially taken. “There is no denying that they were given tea there. However, we want the Mumbai Police to upload the unedited CCTV footage from
Santacruz police station, where they were kept overnight on Saturday when the incident took place,” Merchant added.

Later in the day, Sanjay Pandey released a video in which he said, “We see in the newspapers that the situation is critical but the situation is never critical for the police, or it is never good. It’s always critical. The police personnel and officers of Mumbai Police will handle the law and order situation.”

He added, ” If some people tried (to disturb the peace), we will not fall short, we will all do what we can do. We have to take care of the law.”