Journalism of Courage
Pune witnessed crimes in 2014 that raised serious concerns about the increasing radical movements in the city — be it right wing groups, left wing extremists or terrorist organisations. The murder of innocent Muslim techie Mohsin Shaikh (28) in Hadapsar on June 2 by youths allegedly associated with the right wing Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS), following communal clashes over posting of derogatory photographs of Maratha King Shivaji and late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on social networking site Facebook, sent shockwaves.
As communal clashes were on, some stone-pelting by Muslim groups was reported in Sayyad Nagar area of Hadapsar on June 2. But a “rumour” of Muslims pelting stones on a Shivaji Maharaj statue spread rapidly. Soon, Hindu activists in large numbers thronged the streets of Hadapsar. Some youths, alleged to be members of the HRS, attacked Mohsin Shaikh in Bankar Colony, Hadapsar, when he was going home with a friend Riyaz after offering namaz at a masjid around 9 pm. Riyaz was not harmed, but Mohsin was targeted because he wore a skull cap and sported beard. As many as 21 HRS activities, including their firebrand chief Dhananjay Desai alias Bhai, were arrested by the police on charges of murder. Sources from police and intelligence agencies said while derogatory photographs were circulated across the state and the country, the communal tensions in Pune were severe than other places.
An officer said Mohsin’s murder hinted at major radicalisation going on in Pune. While Desai is still in jail, some Hindu groups announced ‘Hindutva Shourya Puraskar’ for him. Desai’s wife was supposed to collect the “honour” at the hands of radical Hindutva leader Pramod Muthalik of Shri Ram Sene during Shivpratap Din Utsav, a function organised in memory of the heroic victory of Chhatrapati Shivaji over Adilshahi commander Afzal Khan. The function was cancelled only after a report in The Indian Express.
The city also saw a rise in left wing extremism. The arrest of Maoist operatives Arun Bhelke and his wife Kanchan Nanaware, both natives of Chandrapur, by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Pune on September 2 highlighted underground Naxal movements in the city. Bhelke and Kanchan were handling operations of the Golden Corridor committee of the CPI- Maoist, which aims to spread Naxal ideology and recruitment in urban areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat, particularly among the Dalits and minority groups. The couple changed their location frequently, used different names while interacting with different persons and developed contacts with youths from backward classes and minorities at 20 locations in Pune, including “Mass Movement”, an organisation mainly comprising Dalit youths from the Kasewadi slums.Police said Bhelke was trying to indoctrinate them towards Maoist ideology by making them read and discuss books and documents with revolutionary content.
On the other hand, the arrest of alleged Indian Mujahideen operative Ajaz Shaikh of Pune threw light on the city’s link with terror activities. Since 2008, many IM operatives from Pune have been arrested by the police, including software engineer Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Ali Peerbhoy who allegedly headed the media cell of the terror outfit and sent terror mails after bomb blasts. A resident of Galaxy Apartment in Ghorpade Peth, Ajaz is the brother-in-law of absconding IM operative Mohsin Chowdhary. Ajaz is a married man. After doing B.Com, he did a course in computers and was working in the IT department of a call centre in Kharadi. He went missing in February and was arrested in September. Investigation revealed that he had taken over Peerbhoy’s work as head of the media cell of IM, according to the police.
Meanwhile, the bomb blast in the parking lot of Faraskhana and Vishrambag police stations, located adjacent to the sensitive Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh temple on July 10, brought Pune in news yet again as a target of terror outfits. Probe revealed that this blast was handiwork of absconding members of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India who had fled from the Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in October last year. None of them has been arrested yet.
