The death of a Maharashtrian in Wednesday’s stone pelting by the MNS workers in Nasik has come as a rude shock to the people of the state, even as the Nasik police on Thursday arrested MNS student wing chief in connection with the incident.

The victim, Ambadas Haribhau Dharrao (55), a Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd employee, was returning home from Ojhar factory, which produces MiG fighters for the defence of the country. He was working in the sheet metal department of the factory. The staff bus in which he was returning was heavily stoned by the MNS workers and then set on fire.

The workers were protesting against the arrest of MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who was released on bail of Rs 15,000 by a Mumbai court.

There was shock and disbelief in the house of Ambadas as his wife looked at the body in utter shock. Ambadas is survived by two married daughters. “What sort of people these MNS workers are, what have they gained by killing an innocent person,” asked a professor in Nasik’s Bytco college, requesting anonymity.

Although the killing seemed accidental, what angered people most was that the victim was a Maharashtrian.
The victim was cremated at his home town in Niphad village in Nasik district. The MNS city chief Nitin Bhosle and five others have been arrested for the death of Ambadas.

Meanwhile, hundreds of North Indian migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar continued to leave Nasik for their native states after the MNS activists targeted several vendors and shop owners.
Mumbai remained peaceful on Thursday as life rolled back to normalcy. No untoward incident has been reported so far.