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Imprisoned
December 14
Mahanagar, ATTACKED
Nikhil Wagle, Mahanagar, HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Nishikant Bahaleroh, Mahanagar, IMPRISONED, HARASSED, LEGAL ACTION
Some 500 activists from the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena Party, which governs Maharashtra state, stormed the offices of the Marathi-language daily Mahanagar in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) after the paper published critical remarks by G. R. Khairnar, a former municipal commissioner, about Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. While their fellow party members demonstrated outside, a number of activists entered the editorial office of Mahanagar through a rear window and disconnected phone lines, damaged office equipment, and attempted to set a fire. Six of the activists who broke into Mahanagar's office were arrested for causing a civil disturbance. All were released on bail. The police also registered charges against two editors of Mahanagar. On Dec. 18, the police charged Wagle, the paper's editor in chief, with defaming political leaders and causing civil unrest. Bahaleroh, an editor at Mahanagar, was charged on Dec. 20 with inciting civil unrest; he was held in jail for two days. Wagle said he viewed the charges merely as a form of harassment, and did not believe that either he or Bahaleroh would face trial.
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