Narayan Rane Becomes Third Union Minister To Be Arrested Ever By State Police, Know About Other Two

Rane, who was arrested in Ratnagiri, has become the first sitting Union Minister to be arrested by the state police in the last 20 years.

Union Minister Narayan Rane (File Pic)

New Delhi: Union Minister Narayan Rane was on Tuesday arrested by the Maharashtra Police for his objectionable remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

Rane, who was arrested in Ratnagiri, has become the first sitting Union Minister to be arrested by the state police in the last 20 years.

Rane, who stirred a controversy earlier on Monday with his remarks about slapping the Maharashtra Chief Minister for what he claimed his “ignorance of the year of India’s Independence”, is also the third sitting Union Minister to be arrested by the state police ever.

Rane had earlier moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIRs against him.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in his petition, filed through advocate Aniket Nikam, also sought an interim order granting him protection from arrest or any coercive action.

READ: Police Arrived To Arrest Union Minister Narayan Rane While He Was Having Lunch. Video Surfaces

Seeking an urgent hearing on Tuesday itself, the petition was mentioned before a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar.

The High Court bench, however, refused to hear it and asked the lawyer to follow the procedure.

The petition challenged the FIRs lodged against Rane in Pune, Nashik and Mahad in Raigad.

Murasoli Maran, TR Baalu arrested in 2001:

Late Murasoli Maran and TR Baalu were the other two sitting Union Ministers, who were arrested in a dramatic turn of events by the Chennai Police earlier in June 2001.

The duo was arrested along with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi by the Chennai Police in connection with a Rs 12 crore ‘flyover scam’.

They were then remanded to judicial custody till July 10.

Maran, who was Karunanidhi’s nephew, had sustained injuries in a scuffle with the police during his arrest and was admitted to a hospital.

Baalu had also sustained minor injuries.

The footage of the arrest, broadcast by Sun TV, had shown police manhandling Karunanidhi, Maran and Baalu.

Maran and Baalu had reportedly tried to prevent the police from arresting Karunanidhi and had crashed their cars to stop the police.

Maran and Baalu were released on bail the next day after then Union Defence Minister George Fernandes had visited Chennai.