A day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray warned that arrogant auto rickshaw unions would be attracting public ire, reports of attacks on auto rickshaws have been surfacing from different parts of Mumbai suburbs.

Rediff.com's N Ganesh reports that ahead of the Mumbai civic elections in February 2012, Thackeray has found an opportunity to rekindle his campaign against north Indians that his party is known for, a political observer said, since a lot of auto drives are from north India. 

An auto driver at Ghatkopar was assaulted and his vehicle vandalized when he refused a passenger. In another incident at Vikhroli, an auto driver was attacked. As of now it is not known whether the perpetrators of the attack are MNS activists or irate passengers. There are also unconfirmed reports of three autos being set on fire.

Yesterday, Raj Thackeray had come down heavily on the striking auto unions saying their strike was inconveniencing the public and their demands were unlawful. He had said that the auto rickshaws and taxis would have to install electronic meters.