MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi denied permission to hold rally in Pune

PUNE: MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi has been denied permission to hold a rally here tomorrow for a civic by-election by Pune police, citing possibility of a law and order problem.

Owaisi was scheduled to address a rally in support of his party's candidate Mazhar Maniyar for the Kondhwa by-poll to be held here on November 1.

The Kondhwa police, in a communication to the organisers said the permission to address a rally was denied as there was a possibility of Owaisi's speech causing communal tension in the city.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) city unit leader Azhar Tamboli, who had filed an application seeking permission for the Telangana MLA's public rally, has criticised the police's decision to disallow it, saying it amounted to violation of freedom of speech and right to campaign.