Heavy police presence in Barsu area ahead of Uddhav Thackeray’s visit

Police have been deployed in strength in and around Barsu village in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district in view of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s visit as well as a rally of supporters of a proposed refinery, a senior official said. Orders prohibiting unlawful assembly too have been imposed under section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure in the area, he said.

Thackeray is going to visit the village in Rajapur taluka, more than 400 km from Mumbai, on Saturday and interact with those who are opposing the government’s plans to provide land for a mega-oil refinery in the area.

Supporters of the refinery project have also organised a rally in the vicinity at the same time, the official said. Thackeray planned to hold a rally in Barsu-Sogaon area earlier but was denied permission.

Besides district police, additional personnel from Sindhudurg, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Pune and Thane and companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) have been deployed in Rajaput taluka, the official said.