Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, whose assault of an Air India employee and a subsequent flying ban had made headlines, was booked for misbehaving with the police in Latur, Maharashtra, on Thursday, The Times of India. An FIR has been registered against the Osmanabad MP and his supporters for unlawful assembly, misbehaviour and causing public disorder, Inspector Gajanan Bhatlavande told the newspaper.
The parliamentarian and his supporters are believed to have created trouble outside a State Bank of India Branch on Tuesday after encountering an empty ATM. The police said he had behaved rudely with the SBI chief manager and the police and also protested and shouted slogans outside the branch.
“When we tried to pacify him, he shouted at the policemen using objectionable language. His supporters kept raising slogans and obstructing traffic,” Bhatlavande, an inspector at the Gandhi Chowk Police Station, said. The FIR was registered under the Mumbai Police Act.
However, SBI Chief Manager GS Waghmare appeared to defend the MP, saying: “Gaikwad had initially sent one of his supporters to withdraw money, but he returned empty handed after visiting a number of ATMs. The MP summoned bank officials to ask what people were to do in case of an emergency when the ATMs run out of cash.”
Gaikwad was in Latur to campaign for the Shiv Sena, which contested the local municipal corporation elections that were held there on April 19. The MP flew by Air India for the first time since his March 23 altercation on Thursday. The national carrier and four other airlines had revoked his flying ban earlier this month.
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