Mumbai, Feb 5 : Tension continued in Mumbai for the third day Tuesday as activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ransacked the house of popular Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari and demonstrated outside the office of Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam.

Around 17 Raj Thackeray's MSN activists barged into Tiwari's residence at Versova, northwest Mumbai, in the evening and damaged some furniture.

Though Tiwari and his family were not harmed, the activists ordered the singer to go and meet their party leader Raj, the estranged nephew of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Investigating police officer Nitin Pali, of the Versova police station, said that the crowd dispersed before the police arrived. "Tiwari and his family have been provided round the clock police security at their residence," Pali told IANS.

The MNS has been on a warpath against north Indians living in Mumbai and Samajwadi Party (SP) since last Sunday.

Tiwari had also been threatened with dire consequences for performing at the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar on Sunday.

Even as sporadic incidents of violence were reported, 92 political activists were arrested, of which 73 were from MNS and the rest from SP, in connection with the ongoing rampage.

Senior MNS leaders Yehswant Killedar and Shishir Shinde were detained by the police.

Earlier in the evening, SP state president Abu Asim Azmi led a delegation to Mahrashtra Governor S.M. Krishna and demanded protection for north Indians in view of the threats by MNS.

"The police are turning a blind eye to hooliganism indulged in by Raj Thackeray's men. Instead of taking action against them, the police are acting at the behest of the state government and arresting our party activists," Azmi said in a statement.

Raj Thackeray has also launched a bitter tirade against Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his family members.

Tuesday morning MNS activists demonstrated outside the office of Maharashtra Congress spokesman Sanjay Nirupam, in Andheri (East).

In retaliation, Nirupam and his supporters took out a morcha to the residence of MNS chief Raj Thackeray near Shivaji Park, south-central Mumbai, in the afternoon. However, Nirupam and his supporters were arrested by the police but released later.

Nirupam, originally from Bihar, has been a north Indian lobbyist in Mumbai and was the one who introduced the tradition of public celebrations of north Indian Chhath Puja festival at Juhu beach annually.

There was a wild rumour that some miscreants had targeted Nirupam's 12-year-old daughter here Tuesday.

Scotching the rumours, Nirupam told IANS: "It is inconceivable to even think that anybody, including MNS, could stoop so low as to attack women and children. If they have the courage, they should fight with us."

"My daughter is absolutely safe and sound, and such reports will only spark more trouble and more violence," Nirupam, the Congress spokesperson, added.

The former executive editor of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Dopahar Ka Saamna, Nirupam was also rewarded by with a two-term party nomination to the Rajya Sabha.

He had succeeded in mobilising a majority of big and small north Indian associations under an umbrella organisation, the Uttar Bharatiya Sabha.

(IANS)