Unidentified miscreants throw red paint on bust of Meenatai Thackeray at Shivaji Park in Dadar

Mumbai: Tension sparked after unidentified miscreants threw red colour paint on the bust of Maasaheb Meenatai Thackeray, wife of late Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray at the historic Shivaji Park at Dadar in Mumbai on Wednesday.

After the incident, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray separately visited the Shivaji Park area and hoped that the police would be able to nab the culprits as early as possible.

CCTV footage and mobile phone data is being examined by the police to gather leads about the miscreants.

It is not yet clear whether one person or a group of people are involved in the incident.

The nearest CCTV, however, does not capture the pedestal and the bust and hence the footage from the locality is being analysed.

The incident took place on the 140th birth anniversary of Prabodhankar Thackeray - the grandfather of Uddhav and Raj - who was a legendary social reformer, writer and one of the pillars of Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.

Revered as Maasaheb, he has played a big role in the growth of Shiv Sena - and is the matriarch for all Shiv Sainiks - whether from Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Raj Thackeray-led MNS.

Maasaheb died on October 19, 1996, at Karjat in Raigad district.

The bust of Maasaheb is located at the East end of the Shivaji Park, a stone's throw away from Sena Bhavan, the headquarters of Shiv Sena (UBT).

The incident is suspected to have taken place between 6 am to 7 am.

“This is a condemnable…I feel that two types of people could be behind it. Someone who feels ashamed to even mention the name of his father and mother…someone of ‘lawaris’-type or just as there was an unsuccessful attempt to shut down Bihar for insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother, there could be an attempt by someone to shut down Maharashtra."

“Find out the accused within 24 hours,” Raj told the police officers at the spot.

On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde said police have launched a probe and whosoever is involved would be brought to book.

Shinde's close aide and Thane MP Naresh Mhaske said that the motive behind the act needs to be probed and whether someone is behind the incident.

Minister of State for Home and Revenue Yogesh Kadam said strict action will be taken against the culprits. “My father and Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam had got this statue made and installed on the instructions of Balasaheb Thackeray,” added Kadam, whose father is a ex-minister and former leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly.

As soon as the incident came to light, Shiv Sainiks reached the spot - and cleaned the premises. Using turpentine oil, the paint was removed - and the bust was garlanded with flowers.

“There should be a thorough probe,” said Mumbai South Central MP Anil Desai, a close aide of the Thackeray family.

“The person who has done this does not seem to be of sound mind. This incident took place after the Sena (UBT) staged a ‘sindoor’ protest to oppose the India-Pakistan cricket match in the ongoing Asia Cup. It has happened after their rally,” said Mahim MLA Mahesh Sawant, however, did not go into specifics.

Desai, Sawant and Uddhav's PA and MLC Milind Narvekar were among the first to reach the spot who later briefed the former Maharashtra chief minister.

An FIR was registered against unidentified people under Section 298 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with the intent to insult the religion of any class of people) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) at Shivaji Park police station.