After the Maharashtra Assembly was adjourned for the day over allegations from the Opposition parties that a protester Moreshwar Sathe had died because of a fake ‘encounter' with the police in the Maval police firing case, Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Karnik showed videos that attempted to rubbish the charge.
In a press conference in Pune, Mr Karnik showed four clips through which he sought be clarify that Moreshwar Sathe was never taken into police custody to be shot dead later. “It is necessary to clear the allegations, because finally the truth has to come out,” he said.
Sathe (42) died on Tuesday after suffering a bullet wound in the neck, in a police firing meant to quell an angry mob, protesting against a water pipeline project from the Pavana Dam to Pimpri Chinchwad. Two others lost their lives in the protest.
The video first showed an irate mob, while the police took a person away in an attempt to clear the mob. That person was Moreshwar Sathe, Mr. Karnik said. In the next video, Moreshwar is seen free again and running along with other protesters. In the third video, the protesters are seen toppling a police jeep over, with the policemen sitting inside. Outside, Moreshwar is seen shouting slogans. Explaining his case, Mr. Karnik said that the police had at first tried “unsuccessfully” to take Moreshwar into custody. “The police jeep was not in control of the police. So it is not possible that he was taken into custody in the jeep and then shot dead,” Mr. Karnik said.
Six police constables were suspended in Pune in the Maval farmers' protest case on Thursday evening for excessive use of force while trying to control the angry mobs of farmers on Tuesday.
