A second FIR has been filed against journalist Nikhil Wagle, this time for allegedly disobeying the legal notice issued by Pune city police to him and the organisers of ‘Nirbhay Bano’ programme held at the Rashtra Seva Dal premises on Friday. The FIR also has charges against BJP's Pune unit chief Dhiraj Ghate and his 250 party workers, Congress party city chief Arvind Shinde, Prashant Jagtap, who heads the Sharad Pawar NCP faction and Sanjay More of Sena (UBT). Police said these political workers violated the law by gathering illegally at the venue of the programme. The new FIR was lodged by police constable Aniruddha Anerao at Parvati police station on Saturday. The FIR has accused Wagale and the organisers of the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ programme Nandakumar Nage, Utpal Chandavar and Santosh Patole (a Congress office bearer) of causing violation of notice issued to them by the police. Wagle was a key speaker at the event. Notably, Wagle was attacked by BJP party workers on Friday when he was enroute to the enue of ‘Nirbhay Bano’ programme. The attack came in the wake of his comments on LK Advani after the Centre announced a Bharat Ratna for the veteran politician. Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone 3) Sambhaji Kadam said, “We had not granted permission for the (Nirbhay Bano) programme. We had issued notices to organisers of the programme and Nikhil Wagle. But they violated the notice. Hence, they have been booked in an FIR.” Meanwhile, a separate FIR has been lodged against BJP office bearers and workers for allegedly pelting stones on Wagle's vehicle which was enroute to the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ public event on Friday evening. The FIR also alleges that “BJP workers attacked and threw ink on activists trying to protect Wagle”.Activist Shraddha Jadhav (21) lodged the FIR at Parvati police station on Saturday. As per the FIR, BJP workers Deepak Pote, Ganesh Ghosh, Ganesh Sherla, Bapu Mankar, Swapnil Naik, Pratik Desarda, Dushant Mohol, Datta Sagare, Girish Mankar and Rahul Paigude have been booked under IPC Sections 147, 148, 149, 336 (act endangering life and personal safety of others), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons and means) and 427 (mischief). All accused were arrested by the police on Saturday evening. As stated in the FIR, BJP workers intercepted and attacked the vehicle ferrying Wagle at Khandoji Baba Chowk in Deccan area, and also near Senadatta Chowki. Complainant Jadhav and her associates were injured in the attack, the FIR says. A police press release stated that they informed Wagle about the “surcharged atmosphere” in Pune following his controversial post. Police said that due to the large number of agitators present at the venue, Wagle was told he should leave for the venue only after all agitators had been detained. About 25 agitators were detained till around 6 pm whie others were still being detain, the press release said. However, Wagle insisted on leaving, the police said, even as they tried to convince him to stay put on a while. The said they informed Wagle that due to heavy traffic, the process of detention was slow and it was getting difficult to use force. But Wagle did not heed the advice and in fact “dodged the police by changing routes”, the press release said. The statement also mentioned that policemen in plain clothes still followed his car to keep him secure. “When the car was attacked, the plainclothes policemen standing between agitators and Wagle's car tried to stop the attack, but heavy traffic and bystanders ruled out the possibility of using force of evacuating him and his car immediately,” the press release stated. Notably, based on a complaint filed by BJP leader Sunil Deodhar, an FIR was lodged against Wagle at Vishrambag police station on Friday for his alleged defamatory post on X against Modi and Advani. The police booked Wagle in this case under IPC Sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (punishment for defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief). Wagle, however, stated on X that he would stand by his tweet even if he was put behind bars. He even repeated what he had commented about Modi and Advani at the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ event.
