7 months on,47 villagers arrested

On Friday,police arrested 47 more persons who had participated in protest. Shankar Jadhav,deputy superintendent of police (Lonavala sub-division),said,“On March 26,we issued notices to some farmers under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Of those who turned up on Friday morning,we arrested 47 for alleged involvement in the assault on police personnel.”

Jadhav added,“The identification of the suspects was done based on the footage we had received from the media and some witnesses. Based on the clips,we identified these persons with the help of some of our personnel and some villagers. We had sent them notices in the past too but very few turned up. There are 50-55 more persons involved in the assault. Efforts are on to identify them.”

He added,“The arrested were produced in Vadgaon Maval court,which remanded them in magisterial custody for 14 days.”

The police said the arrested villagers were from six-seven villages in Maval,including Baur,Sadavali and Pavananagar.” When asked why it took so much time for the arrests,Jadhav said,“The Zilla Parishad elections had come in between. We had to dedicate staff for election duty and bandobast.”

The sarpanch of victim Sham Tupe’s village Sadavali,said,“The villagers were sent notices saying their presence was required for recording statements. The police cheated us.” Jadhav,however,said,“The arrests have been made as per procedure. We arrested them after they came to Lonavala’s deputy superintendent office.”

Around a month after the firing,the Vadgaon Maval court had directed the police to register cases of murder against eight police officers who had fired at the mob. Some days after the incident,Karnik sought a transfer and was shifted to Mumbai. Shahaji Solunke had then taken over as SP. Despite repeated attempts,Solunke could not be contacted.