Bal Thackeray cremated with full state honours

Mumbai: The mortal remains of Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray was today consigned to flames at Shivaji Park with full state honours. His son Uddhav Thackeray conducted the last rites amid lakhs of Sena supporters, who poured in from different parts of the city and Maharashtra to catch a final glimpse of their beloved leader. Bal Thackeray cremated

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• Bal Thackeray cremated with full state honours at Shivaji Park

• Uddhav, Raj perform certain rites together. Schools to remain shut tomorrow in Mumbai

• Bal Thackeray to be cremated with full state honours at Shivaji Park

• Thackeray's funeral procession reaches Shivaji Park

• LK Advani, Amitabh Bachchan, Sushma Swaraj, Anil Ambani wait at Shivaji Park.

• Narendra Modi will not visit Mumbai for Bal Thackeray's funeral. Traffic issues in the city led him to cancel the trip

• Cortege leaves Sena Bhavan and proceeds to Shivaji Park. Sushma Swaraj, Ram Jethmalani, Rajiv Shukla, Sharad Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Supriya Sule pay tribute to Thackeray.

• Bal Thackeray's cortege reaches Shiv Sena Bhawan, Uddhav appeals to people to give space for moving in

• Raj Thackeray has left the funeral procession & reportedly gone home. He wasn't on the truck carrying Bal Thackeray's body. He will rejoin at Shivaji Park.

• Residents coming out of their houses to serve water to the supporters who are passing with Bal Thackeray's funeral procession.

• The cortege is moving very slowly, around 3 hours it may take to reach Shivaji Park

• Cortege has just reached Mahim ,Shiv Sena leaders appealing to their followers to maintain calm

• Top political leaders are expected to turn up to pay their last respects

• Emotional supporters of their chief are seen pushing each other to catch one last glimpse of him.

• The state guard of honour was given to Thackeray.

• Uddhav and his son Aditya broke down into tears.

• Around 19 lakh supporters expected to join the cortege of Bal Thackeray

• Jewellers across Mumbai will keep their establishments closed tomorrow to mourn the death of Bal Thackeray

In Pic: The funeral procession of Bal Thackeray.PIC/AFP. As the procession reached a connecting road in Mahim, many Muslim women were seen silently weeping.

At the Mahim Church, many church-going people were waiting to join the final journey of the leader whose political career spanned five decades.

Wrapped in the tricolour, Thackeray's body was brought out of his house a little after 9 a.m.

His son Uddhav broke down before the procession started. A glass box carrying the Sena patriarch's body was then loaded onto a truck decked with flowers.

Uddhav, wife Rashmi and son Aditya were on the truck with Thackeray's nephew and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj, wife Sharmila and their children.

Raj later disembarked and walked behind the truck with the funeral procession, keeping a low profile and eyes firmly on the ground.

Thackeray's cortege first went to Sena Bhavan, the party headquarters in Dadar, and the body was then taken to Shivaji Park for people to pay their last respects.

However, the procession was moving extremely slowly with police trying to avoid a stampede.

Over 20,000 policemen, 15 companies of State Reserve Police Force and three contingents of Rapid Action Force had been deployed on the procession route, said a police officer.

In Pic: Bal Thackeray wrapped in tricolour. Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh even cancelled his daughter's wedding reception Sunday.

All major roads and public places wore a deserted look, barring some security vehicles. Restaurants, shops and other establishments remained closed. Over a lakh autorickshaws and around 60,000 black and yellow taxis were also off the roads.