MNS has been involved in repeated acts of goondaism in Maharashtra.

They let loose their bullyboy tactics on films, artistes, north Indian taxi drivers, vendors and jobseekers in Mumbai.

Pugnacious activists of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are increasingly holding the country's commercial and film capital to ransom in the name of either national or Maratha pride. The most recent case in point was the way in which they threatened to protest against the release of Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil for featuring Pakistani actor Fawad Khan before relenting on its stand.

As the nation wondered whether the MNS' aggressive demonstrations to gag free speech and curb civil liberties were really about patriotism, a stunning India Today investigation has found that not all of the party's protests are motivated by ideology.



WANT PROTEST, MAKE THE PAYMENT



India Today's undercover reporters working across Mumbai have discovered how some thugs in the MNS are willing to hold protests for a price.

An investigation by India Today has also revealed a possible extortion racket running within Raj Thackeray's political party.

Several MNS leaders, whom India Today's undercover reporters met, were ready to start protests with an army of goons in Mumbai after being paid.

Mohammad Athar Shah, the party's Kurla ward president, agreed to order his foot soldiers to go on the rampage on the streets for Rs 25 lakh when our journalist in the guise of a lobbyist asked him whether he could organise violent protests.

Also read: ADHM row: MNS a party of goons, can't decide what people must watch, says BJP MP Babul Supriyo



"If you go to somebody else, they will charge Rs 50 lakh or more. We will organise it for Rs 25 lakh," said Shah, an aspirant for the powerful BMC.

The bill he quoted for his violent demonstration would help him fund his campaign for the BMC, whose elections are due in February, he said.

VANDALISM MOTIVATED BY MONEY BUSINESS



He also admitted that the vandalism on streets MNS leaders like him perpetrate by whipping up nationalist and Maratha issues could be motivated by pure commerce.

"Remember, our organisation has no patriotic objective at all," India Today's undercover reporter told Shah, clarifying the proposal was driven by vested interests.

"I fully understand it's business. They'll benefit from it and so will I," acknowledged the MNS leader.

He also then offered a host of ways in which he could carry out protests, from blocking traffic to indulging in street violence.

"Tell me what your organisation wants. Do they want violent attacks, vandalism, traffic blockades, stone-pelting? he asked.

But Shah wasn't the only one in the MNS rank and file instigating protests.

In the second leg of its probe, India Today's special investigation team met Deepak Chavan, the party's vice-president of Mumbai's Malad-Malwani ward, with a proposal to hold demonstrations over child labour.

Without delay, Chavan agreed to stage the agitation.

"It will be done," he assured the undercover reporters.

Also read: Fresh threat to Ae Dil Hai Mushkil from MNS



"How many people can be brought together for this protest," asked one of the journalists.

"Fifty or 100," Chavan replied.

"Whether it is 50, 100, 200, 150, just ensure it involves stone-pelting and (police) lathicharge. All should appear on the media," said the undercover reporter.

"It will be done," the MNS leader answered, but said his protests won't come for free.

"I am not saying I will do it for free. I didn't say it. The boys and their people should be satisfied. Those who are with me shouldn't be upset. They should see clearly what's there on offer," Chavan remarked.



EXTORTION RACKET

Holding demonstrations over the issue of child labour appeared a routine happening for Chavan. Soon after, he offered the undercover reporters a partnership in a bigger extortion plan.

"There's something big to be extracted if you are willing to be a partner," he said.

"What big?" asked the reporter.

The MNS leader from the Malad-Malwani ward explained that he was plotting to blackmail a real-estate tycoon who he said had built residential apartments on a tribal land in Mumbai.

He even suggested that the fictitious NGO that India Today's reporters posed to be representing participate in the deal.

"They (the tribes) are weak. They have no access beyond courts. They can't go anywhere else although they have all the valid documents," Chavan said.

His scheme centred around a potential nexus between a politician like him and the NGO to extort the builder after pressuring him by deceitful protests.

Also read: MNS welcomes theatre owners' decision to ban films with Pakistani artists



"We'll get at least two to four crore rupees," Chavan told the investigative team.

"So, what you are suggesting is to put pressure on the builder so that he negotiates with us," asked the reporter.

"Yes," quipped Chavan.



MODUS OPERANDI



India Today's special team also probed how MNS leaders like Shah and Chavan were able to undermine Mahatma Gandhi's legacy of democratic protests, by holding protests by way of acts of intimidation and thuggery.

The investigation revealed that the state itself might be partly to be blamed for patronising their high-handedness and bullying behaviour.

In his comments, Shah explicitly endorsed manipulating the police as a modus operandi for his party's arm-twisting methods.

He promised law-enforcers would respond lightly, and in accordance with his pre-scripted plan, when his men descend on Mumbai to create chaos.

"It will be chaotic for sure. I'll manage the police post. I'll manage everything," Shah said.

" So, you'll manage both the post and the police station. Right?" asked the reporter.

"I'll manage everything," Shah assured. "There won't be any firing. We'll manage it. They (police) will let us know their limits and those of ours. That's it," he said in what appeared to be a stunning disclosure that explained why the police in Mumbai don't act against seemingly unlawful protests as they should.



BRAINWASHING

In the MNS clique, any cosmetic police case against the cadres is regarded as a badge of honour in the party, Shah told India Today's special team.

"One who is not named in any case is not an MNS worker. That's true," he bragged.

Also read: MNS workers disrupt pro-Vidarbha press conference in Mumbai



Arif Shamim Sheikh, an MNS leader from Mahim, also termed criminal cases a hallmark of Raj Thackeray's outfit.

"Police cases keep happening. It's not worth being in the MNS it if there isn't a case. How will you be identified then?" he said. "It's a trademark."

Besides, Sheikh defined violence as the MNS' core philosophy. "Raj (Thackeray) Sahib says clench your fists and deliver the blows if words don't work," he said.



METHOD IN MADNESS

But before MNS activists pounce on their targets, they make every calculation, right from the strengths of their rivals to the legal costs involved in getting lawyers to defend our case, claimed Sheikh. "There's a system in place. We have to take into account how strong the other party is, where the protests should be held, how big our manpower should be, and the costs for lawyers," he said.

Not one MNS leader India Today's investigative crew met refused to hold violent demonstrations in what appeared to be a tragic commentary on public protests that are a powerful statement against any abuse of rights in a democracy.