[Reader-list] Fwd: Two Kabir Kala Manch members arrested after four-hour 'wait'

[Asit Das]

Indian Express
   Two Kabir Kala Manch members arrested after four-hour ‘wait’
Express news service <http://www.indianexpress.com/columnist/ens/> : Wed
May 08 2013, 04:01 hrs
  [image: B]Ramesh Gaichor, Sagar Gorkhe and their wives Jyoti Jagtap and
Rupali Jadhav outside Oval Maidan Tuesday. Ganesh Shirsekar

Two members of Pune's cultural group Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) who arrived
outside Oval Maidan to court arrest Tuesday, had to wait four hours before
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) took them in custody. The wait
entailed an hour-long meeting with state home minister R R Patil, who,
intrigued by the group's introduction, asked them to sing protest songs at
his office.

Ramesh Gaichor (28) and Sagar Gorkhe (27) along with their wives Jyoti
Jagtap (26) and Rupali Jadhav (27) came to Oval Maidan at 3 pm. Gaichor and
Gorkhe are wanted for allegedly aiding Naxal activities in the state. This
is the second time KKM activists have courted arrest, which the group
insists be called their satyagraha.

For two hours, they sang protest songs and gave out audio CDs to the crowd
near the statue of B R Ambedkar. The group, along with Prakash Reddy of
CPI, film maker Anand Patwardhan and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasabha's Prakash
Ambedkar, went to Patil's office at Mantralaya at 5 pm.

Seeing the crowd converge at his office, Patil called up ATS chief Rakesh
Maria and sought information on the case against Gaichor and Gorkhe.

"We will have to follow the law and have to take them in custody. But we
will ensure their rights are not violated while in custody," Patil told the
KKM defence committee, formed last year to facilitate the group's legal
battle.

Patil also promised that the police would seek only one-day police custody.

DCP (ATS) Pradeep Sawant officially took Gaichor and Gorkhe in custody at 6
pm. While Jagtap's name is mentioned in the chargesheet, Jadhav, according
to the ATS, has no role in the case. The ATS let the women return after
taking down basic details.

Last month, Sheetal Sathe (27) and Sachin Mali (27), courted arrest outside
Mantralaya. Both are in judicial custody at present. Like Sathe and Mali,
Gaichor and Gorkhe are facing serious charges under Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act for their alleged links with the banned CPI (Maoist).

"A few notes have surfaced during investigations and the handwriting
matches Sathe's. We are probing their roles and letting them go at this
point in time is not possible," Patil said.
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