HRS chief may be charged on January 27

Pune: A Special Court for Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) here is likely to frame charges against Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS) chief Dhananjay Desai and 20 others on January 27 in connection with the Mohsin Shaikh murder case.
Shaikh, an IT professional, was brutally murdered by a mob during the violence that erupted in Hadapsar on June 2, 2014 following an objectionable social media post.During the course of the probe in the case, Desai and 20 other accused were arrested.
A Pune sessions court and the Bombay High Court have rejected Desai's bail application in the past. The accused are currently lodged at Yerawada jail in the city and at Kolhapur jail. In August last year, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had filed the nine-page draft charges before the special court. The court, presided over by special judge (MCOCA) J T Utpat, had summoned all accused on January 7 for the purpose of framing the charges.
However, Desai's lawyers Milind Pawar and Sachin Hinganekar moved a plea seeking adjournment on the grounds that Desai needed time to file a discharge application. The court allowed the plea and the case will next be heard on January 27.
"We plan to furnish the discharge application at the next hearing and the court may take a call on the same as well as on the issue of framing charges," Pawar told TOI.
The draft charges state that Desai intended to create terror in the minds of minorities in Hadapsar and instigated his volunteers to kill a person and create panic within the community. He gathered an illegal mob and provoked them by distributing inflammatory pamphlets. Desai and 20 others, including a juvenile, were booked for alleged conspiracy and murder under sections 120(b) and 302 of the IPC. He has also been booked for allegedly giving an inflammatory public speech and circulating pamphlets aimed at causing communal disharmony.
In August 2014, the Pune crime branch had filed an exhaustive 650-page chargesheet against Desai and the other accused. According to the chargesheet, the HRS chief had instigated his followers to launch a series of violent protests in Hadapsar following certain objectionable posts. The protests resulted in Shaikh's death. The chargesheet listed 106 witnesses and noted that the victim had no enmity with HRS or any other person and the suspects attacked him since he was sporting a skullcap and beard.
The suspects had also attacked Amin Shaikh and Ajaz Bagwan who were on their way home after offering evening prayers.
Ends | Vishwas