Mumbai: Alleging that the violence in Gajapur village of Vishalgad, Kolhapur on July 14, 2024, was ‘targeted’, a citizens’ forum today demanded a “fair probe” into the role of “certain anti-social elements” and sought “fairness” in the investigations.
The delegation of Citizens for Justice and Peace, met the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) of Maharashtra, Sanjay Saxena, to provide “on-ground details” on the “communal violence “, as well as point to the “grave mistakes made by the authorities which aided the anti-social elements to target Muslim houses, Mosques and a Dargah”.
The delegation comprised Dolphy Dsouza, who represented The Bombay Catholic Sabha and Citizens for Justice and Peace, Dr Frazer Mascarenhas S.J, a former principal of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Norbert Mendonca and Shakir Tamboli, activist and a member of the Indian National Congress. They pointed out that around 40-50 houses of Muslims were burnt, their vehicles destroyed and a Mosque was demolished by the violent mob.
Through a memorandum, the delegation provided Saxena with a timeline of the incidents that took place in Gajapur village of Kolhapur and also provided details of the FIR filed by the Kolhapur police. The members of the delegation claimed the ongoing investigation into the violence was “biased”, resulting in kingpins of the violence not being arrested even after the passing of two weeks since the eruption of violence.
The delegation also highlighted the three “inadequate” FIRs filed by the police regarding the violence, which, it claimed, failed to use the necessary provisions required under the law to hold the perpetrators accountable.
“As per FIR number Crime Registration Number.224/2024, it was Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati, who came to the foothills of Vishalgad at 1:30 pm, and it was reportedly he who had incited the mob by giving a provocative speech and shouting slogans. It was the said mob that then had ransacked and looted the shops at the foothill. Four-wheeler and two-wheeler motorcycles standing there were vandalized and thrown into the valley in the presence of an inactive police,” the delegation told Saxena.
Based on these details, the delegation sought accountability and justice for the said incident. The members claimed the violence was the result of “inexcusable lapses, even complicity by the police and revenue administration”. They alleged that the investigation that had taken place till now was “lax”, and demanded, besides immediate arrest action against all the concerned nuisance elements, immediate suspension of district police chief Mahendra Pandit and a departmental inquiry against Tehsildar and Police Inspector of Shahuwadi for failing to take relevant actions on that fateful day and protecting the victims against the mob.
The delegation also pointed to an attempt to vitiate the atmosphere by circulating posts on social media whose contents were provocative and instigated people to take the law into their own hands.
The meeting between Saxena and the delegation lasted about 20 minutes, wherein the ADG (Law and Order) assured the members of the delegations that he would look into the grievances and take appropriate action.
– global bihari bureau
