NCP activist withdraws case against Thackeray

MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Munna Tripathi has withdrawn the case filed against Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray for making an allegedly communally provocative speech in 2006.
  
Mr Tripathi on Tuesday said that he withdrew the case against Mr Thackeray after Party executive president Uddhav Thackeray referred to him as 'brother' at a public function held here in Andheri on the occasion of Uttar Pradesh Foundation Day on January 24.
  
Mr Tripathi said, ''As Uddhav called me a brother, so Mr Thackeray is like a father figure to me that is why I have decided to withdraw the case.''
  
Mr Tripathi had filed a complaint against Mr Thackeray for making an allegedly communally provocative speech on June 19, 2006 here at Shanmukhanand Hall in north-central Mumbai on the occasion of Sena's Foundation Day.
  
The metropolitan magistrate court had issued a bailable warrant against the octogenarian Sena patriarch for non-appearance in the court.
  
Thereafter, the sessions court had directed the police to execute the warrant following which Mr Thackeray was technically arrested from his residence 'Matoshree' and was immediately released on bail after filling the personal bond papers.