The BJP General Secretary Gopinath Munde was on Monday detained at the Mumbai airport by the state police when he was on his way to violence-hit Sangli district to address a meeting there.
The officials said he was detained as his address could aggravate the tense situation in the district.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Brijesh Singh, said Munde has been prevented from going to Miraj in wake of the communal clashes there and his boarding pass has been seized.
Mr. Munde was to address a meeting in connection with a recent riot at Miraj in the district, the BJP sources said.
The trouble had started on Anant Chaturdashi day -- September 3 -- when some pro-Hindutva organisations tried to raise an arch on the Ganesh idol immersion procession route, depicting murder of Mughal warrior Afzulkhan by King Shivaji as recorded in the Maratha history.
This led to a clash between two groups and violence that had repercussions in Sangli city also.
