Kalicharan Maharaj taken into custody by Maharashtra Police over derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi
Synopsis
Following the transit remand granted by a court at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, the religious leader was being brought to Pune where he will be produced in a court later in the day, officials said.
Pune: Maharashtra Police on Wednesday took the custody of controversial Hindu religious leader, Kalicharan Maharaj following a transit remand order by a court in Raipur after he was nabbed by Chhattisgarh Police from Khajurao in Madhya Pradesh on December 30 in connection with a case pertaining to alleged inflammatory speeches registered against him and five others in Maharashtra. He allegedly passed derogatory remarks directed at Mahatma Gandhi and hailed the assassin of the Father of the Nation
Chief Judicial Magistrate Bhupendra Kumar Vasnikar has granted the remand of Maharaj to the Maharashtra Police as he is named in separate cases pursuant to making inflammatory remarks during a gathering in Pune. The Magistrate further directed the authorities and police to produce Maharaj in a Pune court on January 6.
Following the transit remand granted by a court at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, the religious leader was being brought to Pune where he will be produced in a court later in the day, officials said.
“We have taken the custody of Kalicharan from Chhattisgarh Police and he is being brought to Pune,” an official from Khadak police station was quoted as saying by PTI.
Along with Kalicharan Maharaj, police had also booked Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote, Nandakishor Ekbote, Mohanrao Shete, Dipak Nagpure and Captain Digendra Kumar under sections 295 (a), 298, 505 (2), 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Digendra Kumar is a Kargil war hero who retired from the Army in 2005. He was awarded the Mahavir Chakra (MVC) in 1999 for his act of bravery during the Kargil war. He was among the speakers at the programme.
Kalicharan Maharaj alias Abhijit Sarag, a resident of Shivajinagar in Akola in Maharashtra, was earlier arrested in a case at Raipur where he made derogatory statements against Mahatma Gandhi during his speech. He was recently released on bail.