Ujjwala Pawar ‘appointed’ SPP in Mohsin Shaikh murder case, claims his family

“Activists from Pune had met the Chief Minister in Mumbai over the issue on Friday. During the meeting, the CM passed an oral order to the home secretary for the appointment of Ujjwala Pawar as the SPP,” he said, adding, “We were told that there was a delay in the appointment of Salian because the case report from Pune city police was awaited. The delays were hampering the case and helping the accused.” However, Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla said the case report had been forwarded to the home secretary two days ago.

Activist Azar Tamboli from Pune, who was present during the meeting with the chief minister, said, “We have submitted an application seeking the appointment of Pawar as the SPP. The CM wrote ‘approved’ on the application and also gave an oral order to his home secretary. The written order is also expected soon. We hope that advocate Pawar now represents the case during the next hearing in the sessions court on July 31”.

A native of Solapur, Mohsin was working as an engineer in a private firm in Pune. He was killed during the communal clashes that broke out in 2014, after the circulation of objectionable pictures of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Bal Thackeray. Mohsin, who was on his way home with a friend after offering prayers at a mosque in Hadapsar on the night of June 2, 2014, was allegedly attacked by youths associated with the Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS).

Seriously injured in the attack, Mohsin was admitted to the hospital, and he died while undergoing treatment. His brother Mobin Shaikh (26) had filed a complaint of murder with the Hadapsar police station. Police had detained as many as 21 HRS activists, including the outfit’s leader Dhananjay Jayram Desai alias Bhai (34), a resident of Paud. Of the 21 accused, 18 including a minor are already out on bail. Desai and two others are still lodged in prison.

Earlier, advocate Ujjwal Nikam was appointed as the SPP in the case, following a request filed by Moshin’s family to the then Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. But after a request made by Nikam, the government cancelled his appointment as SPP in the case on May 19 this year.

On June 16, Sadiq wrote to the state government to seek the appointment of Rohini Salian as the SPP. Salian had made headlines after she alleged that the NIA had asked her to “go soft” on right-wing extremists accused in terror cases. Activists suspect that it was because of the controversy triggered by Salian’s comments that the government had delayed its decision over her appointment as SPP in the Mohsin murder case.