Mumbai: Three men who were charged with murdering a Muslim man after attending a Hindu Rashtra Sena (HRS) meeting in Pune, on June 2, 2014, were granted bail by the Bombay high court.
The court held that accused did not kill the man over a personal enmity; neither have they had any criminal record prior. The court said and that they had been provoked “in the name of religion”.
Justice Mridula Bhatkar of Bombay High Court said the murder due to communal incitement was a fair deal. “The meeting was held prior to the incident of assault. The accused, otherwise, had no other motive, such as any personal enmity, against the innocent deceased. The only fault of the deceased was that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favor of the accused. Moreover, the accused do not have any criminal record and it appears that they were provoked in the name of the religion and have committed murder,” she said.
According to the complaint, on June 2, 2014, the three accused Vijay Gambhire, Ranjeet Yadav, and Ajay Lalge attended a meeting organized by HRS at Hadapsar, Pune, on account of the alleged defiling of a statue of King Shivaji Maharaj. In the meeting, the group’s leader Dhananjay Desai made provocative remarks involving Emperor Shivaji, the late Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray and Hindu gods which sparked an outrage among the people.
The three accused were on rounds in the area on two-wheelers, carrying weapons, spotted the deceased Shaikh Mohsin, with a beard in a green shirt, his elder brother Riyaz and colleague Wasim, they attacked them hockey sticks, bats and stones.
Riyaz managed to escape but Mohsin, was severely injured by the time Mohsin was shifted to the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries.
The police have arrested the three on charges of murder and causing a riot. The prosecution argued claiming that they should not be given bail.
The court held that.“From the record and the statements of the witnesses, it is apparent that the accused were present at the meeting. The court, while earlier rejecting Desai’s bail, have referred to his speech and stated that it was sufficient to incite the feelings of religious discrimination in the crowd.”