Thane: The Thane Magistrate’s Court has ordered Bhayander police to register a case against former minister of housing Jitendra Awhad for allegedly promoting enmity between two groups. The court passed the order on the complaint of Khush Khandelwal, an advocate and political leader, against Awhad.
Khandelwal presented a video which he claimed to have received on WhatsApp, after the arrest of Vaibhav Raut by the Anti Terrorist Squad in August 2018. Raut was arrested after recovery of arms and ammunition.
Khandelwal claimed that in the video, Awhad was seen giving a speech wherein he claimed that “the bombs recovered from Raut were to cause a blast in the Maratha morcha rally of the Maratha community”. He alleged that the statements were made with the intention of promoting enmity between the Marathas and Bhandari community.
Khandelwal further claimed that the chargesheet has been filed against Raut. However he claimed that “neither during investigation nor in the chargesheet has the investigating authority mentioned that the bombs were meant to be used to disrupt the Maratha Morcha”.
Awhad’s lawyer submitted that the alleged statement were taken out of context and could not be said to result in commission of any offence. It was further argued that the complaint was politically motivated.
The court, however, after hearing both side held that the nature of the offences alleged was such that only an investigation by the police machinery would be expedient. “Hence, this is a fit case to allow the registration of FIR.”
