Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi on Tuesday met top police officials in Mumbai and offered to court arrest and join any inquiry relating to offences registered against him on the issue of North Indians in Maharashtra.
He, however, was not taken into custody.
The Rajya Sabha leader, accompanied by his lawyer, met Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad at the police headquarters today afternoon.
After the meeting with the police, Azmi told reporters that he had come to see Prasad following reports that a FIR has been lodged against him, and "to court arrest if they wish so".
Azmi has not been arrested yet, police sources said. "I have been told that the police are still investigating the case," he said.
The city police registered cases against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray and Azmi at two different police stations under Sections 153 (inciting riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between groups), 153 B (assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 117 (abetting the commission of an offence by the public) of the Indian Penal Code.
Incidents of violence in the city, targeting the north Indians, began on February 3 after Thackeray launched a verbal tirade against the community.
Azmi had allegedly made provocative statements at the United National Progressive Alliance rally held at Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai on February 3.
On Monday, the police had hinted at the possibility of arresting Thackeray and Azmi on Tuesday.
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