No insult of images took place during demolition drive in Bandra: Mumbai civic body

The civic body dubbed the incident as unfortunate, and said it stands by its employees.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said no insult of the images of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray took place during the demolition of unauthorised structures in suburban Bandra last week.

The action in H-East ward was taken as per the rules and it was issuing the clarification ''to avoid misunderstanding among the public,'' the civic body said.

H-East ward office had taken action against unauthorized structures near the Bandra railway station including two libraries and an office of an auto rickshaw union affiliated to the Shiv Sena (UBT).

The Sena UBT had alleged that images of Shivaji Maharaj and late Bal Thackeray were `insulted' during the action.

But the BMC said its officials had requested the union officials to take out everything including framed photographs and statues before the demolition, and the latter cooperated.

A day before, alleged members of the Shiv Sena (UBT) had manhandled a BMC engineer. The civic body dubbed the incident as unfortunate, and said it stands by its employees. The Municipal Mazdoor Union and Municipal Engineers Association staged a protest outside the H-East ward office on Tuesday against the incident, and sought security for civic engineers like that provided to the doctors working in government hospitals.