Journalism of Courage
As many as five police cases have been filed in the past few days against political parties and their associated outfits for violation of the code of conduct for elections. Deputy Commissioner of Police (special branch) Ravindra Sengaonkar said a case has been filed against Nationalist Congress Party candidate Azam Pansare at Pimpri police station and Shiv Sena candidate Gajanan Babar at Sangvi police station.
The candidates have been booked under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code as they violated the election code of conduct by organising political rallies without permission, Sengaonkar said. A similar case has been filed against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena for taking out rallies at Warje and Yerwada region without taking the necessary permission, he said.
A complaint was also lodged against Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS),a workers union with links to the Bharatiya Janta Party,for organising a satyanarayan pooja on a road in Korthud. The BMS had not taken permission for organising the pooja, he said.
The police said that an unknown person has also been booked under section 188 of IPC for violation of election code of conduct.
Meanwhile,the police released a list of 64 spots in different parts of the city where the political parties would be allowed to organise public rallies. We will not allow political parties to campaign in public places creating traffic jams and other problems for the people. Hence we have readied a list of 64 spots in the city,most of which are private places,where the political parties can carry out their election campaign rallies, Sengaonkar said.
Police will not interfere in deals between the owners of private places and political outfits. The police will only focus on the law and order situation, he said.
In view of the elections,those persons who own firearms are supposed to surrender them before the police. So far,the Pune police have received 1,121 firearms from people. Besides,15 firearms and 13 cartridges possessed illegally by the accused in various cases have also been recovered, Sengaonkar said. There are about 5,000 weapon licence-holders in Pune. Most of them are retired defence and police personnel, he said.
As per the figures obtained from the Pune police commissionerate,till March 31 the police have detained 43 notorious goons. Process is on for the externment of another 38 criminals before the elections. Instructions have been passed on to all police stations in the city to prepare a list of top 20 goons who are likely to create trouble during elections. The goons will be kept in police custody during the elections as a preventive measure.
The police control room should be informed if a politician is found distributing money anywhere in the city for luring the voters. The police have also appealed to the citizens to inform the police about any untoward activity of political parties during the elections.
Meanwhile,the special branch of the Pune police is also keeping a close watch on anti-national elements. Police teams are also gathering information about suspicious persons in the city.
