The Thane police arrested 13 persons in connection with the murder of two policemen in Bhiwandi on Wednesday. According to sources all the arrested are Muslims. Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil came under strong attack from the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance for the second consecutive day in the ongoing session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for acting soft against the alleged killers of the two policemen and also for not taking strong action against the minority community in the Bhiwandi riots. Patil unable to defend himself against the onslaught however tried to pacify the opposition by justifying that the police firing in which two Muslims were killed was justified fully. “We cannot be pushed against the wall. If anyone throws stones or attacks policemen, they will be answered with bullets,” Patil said.The minister visited the Thane government hospital to meet the injured policemen who were hurt due to heavy stone pelting by the mob at the under construction police station in Nizampura, the disputed site claimed by both the Muslims and the police and which led to the riots. Surprisingly the injured policemen were post-haste shifted to Thane from Bhiwandi for the ministerial visit. During a visit to the office of the Thane police commissioner on Friday, Patil discussed the problem of the land with Muslim leaders from Thane and Bhiwandi and appealed to them to help restore peace. “The situation in Bhiwandi is fast returning to normalcy and curfew has been lifted,” Patil said and also announced that compensation would be paid to the families of the two Muslims killed in police firing in keeping with the norms finalized by the state government.