An official with the Mumbai Police Department stated on Monday that independent MP Navneet Rana was transported to the Byculla women's jail in Mumbai, while her MLA husband Ravi Rana was taken to Taloja jail in neighbouring Navi Mumbai amid tight security.
The pair was arrested on Saturday after calling for Hanuman Chalisa chanting outside Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private mansion 'Matoshree' in Mumbai, which sparked heated Shiv Sainik protests.
The politician couple was then charged with sedition by the Mumbai Police. A Mumbai court placed the Rana couple in judicial custody for 14 days on Sunday.
As a result, Navneet Rana, a Maharashtra MP, was arrested late Sunday night and transported to the Byculla women's jail.
Ravi Rana, the MLA from Badnera in Amravati, was escorted to the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, but due to a lack of room there, he was transferred to the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai once the legal requirements were completed, according to the official.
Earlier, a case was filed against Ranas under the Indian Penal Code's Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony) and 34 (common intention), as well as the Bombay Police Act's Sections 37(1) and 135 (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language.
Later, they were charged with IPC Section 124-A (sedition) by the police.
The offence of sedition is committed under IPC Section 124-A when a person, through words or otherwise, incites or seeks to incite hatred or contempt for the government established by law, or excites or attempts to arouse disaffection towards the government established by law.
According to the official, the police had also filed another FIR against Ranas for allegedly hindering police officers from completing their duties and resisting arrest at their home in suburban Khar.
The arrest of the Rana couple was deemed "acceptable" by Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Sunday.
On Sunday, police arrested 13 Shiv Sena workers for reportedly demonstrating outside Ranas' Khar mansion on Saturday. The workers in the party were later released on bail, police earlier said