Police on Friday detained two senior local leaders of the MNS as a precautionary measure ahead of the visit of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to Aurangabad, an official said.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Aurangabad district chief Suhas Dashrathe and the party's city president Satnam Singh Gulati were detained in the morning, a day after they threatened to stop Thackeray's convoy during his visit to highlight their demand to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, the police official said.
Thackeray is scheduled to review ongoing development works in Aurangabad during his visit on Friday. He will also attend the ground-breaking ceremony of a sports complex in the district and preside over a meeting at the collectorate, another official said.
On Thursday, Dashrathe and Gulati stopped Shiv Sena leader and former MP Chandrakant Khaire's car and threw leaflets printed with the demand of renaming Aurangabad. The incident took place in the city's Kranti Chowk area.
After the agitation, Dashrathe and Gulati, through social media posts, warned they would also stop the convoy of Thackeray during his visit to the city.
"So the police have detained them and will release them after a few hours," the police official told PTI.
The Shiv Sena, which shares power with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra, itself recently raised afresh the demand that Aurangabad, named after Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, be rechristened as Sambhajinagar.
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