Farmers' leader and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna (SSS) MP Raju Shetty was arrested along with scores of party workers for allegedly ransacking the office of state sugar commissioner at Sahkar Sankul Complex in Shivaji Nagar area here today.
The incident occurred at around 3 PM when Shetty, accompanied by over 100 workers of his outfit, led a march to the commissioner's office to hand over a memorandum on the pending issue of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugar but could not meet the commissioner, said Shivajinagar police station sub-inspector Darshan Patil.
He said Shetty's supporters then went berserk and vandalised the office and also set on fire a car parked there.
Shetty, who represents Hatkanangale seat in neighbouring Kolhapur district, has been booked under various sections of the IPC for unlawful assembly and deterring public servant from discharging duty.
Shetty, whose party is one of the constituents of the BJP-led NDA in Maharashtra, has been demanding that the price of sugarcane be more than FRP.
FRP is the existing arrangement for the price to be paid to sugarcane farmers by sugar mills and is announced each year by the Centre, and in some cases by state governments.
