Offices of TV channel attacked over music reality show

Mumbai: In two separate incidents, alleged activists of Shiv Sena and a little-known outfit Swaraj Sena have attacked the offices of Colors channel in suburban Andheri and Vile Parle, objecting to its new musical reality show featuring Pakistani artists.

The reality show `Sur Kshetra` is scheduled to start from tonight and will be aired on Colors TV and Sahara One. According to police, 15 alleged Shiv Sena activists stormed into the Colors channel`s office on Parsi Panchayat Road in Andheri and smashed it with rods on Thursday night. A little later, around midnight, the network`s Vile Parle office was pelted with stones by two bike-borne men, allegedly belonging to a group called Swaraj Sena, police said. In connection with the Andheri violence, police arrested eight Shiv Sena workers on charges of "trespass and unlawful assembly". However, no arrest was made in the Vile Parle case, police said. A musical contest, the show features eight vocalists from Pakistan and an equal number of Indian singers. Playback singer Asha Bhonsle is one of the judges on the show. The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena had on August 30 issued a diktat to the channel, warning it not to broadcast the show, objecting to featuring Pakistani vocalists. However, the MNS withdrew its threat after filmmaker Boney Kapoor and CEO of the channel met Thackeray at his Dadar residence on Thursday. PTI